The chemical origins of biological interactions: an evolutionarily refined approach for natural products discovery

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One of the greatest challenges we currently face is the development of antibiotic-resistance in human pathogens. In the past, scientists have harvested a large number of antibacterial and antifungal molecules from microbes found in the soil. These molecules that are isolated from natural sources are referred to as natural products. Because many natural products are structurally complex, they often have useful bioactive properties. Indeed, the structures of natural products form the inspiration for the majority of successful drug candidates. However, both the pharmaceutical industry and academia have realized that searching for natural products using standard procedures (e.g. isolating soil microbes) is labour-intensive and often leads to rediscovery of known compounds.