Transcript Melanesian Experiences in Marine Drug Discovery at University of the

Melanesia Experiences in Marine
Drug Discovery at University of
the South Pacific”
Prof. B. Aalbersberg and K.-D. Feussner
CDDC, IAS, USP
Bioprospecting - Background
• 25-50% of western medicines are derived from
natural sources (e.g. aspirin, quinine, many anticancer agents and anti biotic drugs)
• Sales near $800 billion
• Process takes 15–20 years and costs $800 million
• 1 in 10,000 chance to develop medicine from given
organism
Bioprospecting Process - 1
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Permitting
Collecting
Extraction
Bioactivity Testing
Fractionation and Purification
Structure elucidation
Bioprospecting Process - 2
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Organism Identification and Recollection
Structure – Activity Relationships
Toxicology Tests
Clinical Trials
Pray
Microbial Bioprospecting
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2.
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Plating substrate
Colony Isolation and Purification
Fermentation
Extraction of Ferment
As in macroorganisms
Genetic Material
• DNA can be extracted, amplified and sequenced
• Sections of genome that are responsible for various
functions (diseases, chemical production) can be
identified
Work at USP
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6.
Permitting
Collecting
Extraction
Bioactivity Testing
Fractionation and Purification
Structure elucidation
Types of Samples
• Organism
• Extracted chemicals
• Extracted DNA
Convention on Biological
Diversity and Access and
Benefit Sharing
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Prior informed consent
Fair agreement on mutually agreed terms
Participation and sharing of benefits
Environmentally sound uses
Types of Benefits
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Cash (sample fee and royalties)
Help in resource management
Voucher specimen
Legal review
Participation in work and capacity building
Sharing results
Transfer of technology
Access to biotech outcomes
ABS and Fiji
• 1995 Verata Project
• Full policy under the Sustainable Development Bill
(1997?)
• Ad-hoc policies of Forestry (terrestrial) and Fisheries
(marine)
• Interest of AG’s office
• Availability from CBD Secretariat of Model
Provisions
USP Marine Collaborations
• 1980s UC Santa Cruz (Fiji)
• 1990s Utah University (Fiji and Van.),
Strathclyde (Verata project)
• 2000s Georgia Tech (Fiji), PharmaMar
• 2010s Georgia Tech, CRRF (USNIH) (SI),
• 2015 Nagoya Fund (SI)
Bioactivity Screens
1. Antimicrobial (fungi + bacteria – resistant
strains)
2. Anti – cancer test
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brine shrimp
cell lines
mechanism based
3. Others possible, e.g. malaria, dengue,
Alzheimer, TB, anti-ageing
Potential role of CDDC in
regional program
• Repository of collected specimens
(Univ Utah, CRRF (NIH), GIT, JIB, GEF)
Both, for macrosamples and microbes
• Bioprospecting partner
• Annual reports to governments