Blue biotechnology – drugs from our o ceans

Abstract

Fungi are one of the major health concerns in modern life. It is known that up to 20% of patients with blood stream infections in intensive care units are affected by disease producing fungi such as Candida and Aspergillus, sometimes dominating the infections in doses that could be lethal. Patients who are immune-compromised/ immune-suppressed – including the elderly, HIV-infected patients, chemotherapy recipients, and transplant patients - are more prone to fungal infections. There are anti-fungal drugs available, but they are expensive and can have severe side effects such as nephrotoxicity (kidney damage). In addition, a major concern is that fungi such as Candida can become drug-resistant. Therefore there is a pressing need to identify new drugs to treat fungi and the diseases associated with them. Oceans cover about 70% of the earth and it is highly diverse in terms of its wealth – the marine organisms. It has been seen ...