Commentary on Traditional and Modern Biomedical Prospecting: Part II—The Benefits by Werner E. G. Müller, Heinz C. Schröder, Matthias Wiens, Sanja Perović‐Ottstadt, Renato Batel and Isabel M. Müller: Anti‐Protozoa and Antiviral Activities of Non‐Cytotoxic Truncated and Variant Analogues of Mussel Defensin by P. Roch, A. Beschin and E. Bernard

This commentary continues to focus on the two papers cited in the editorial and naturally also alludes to other papers as we continue to emphasize the value of molecules derived from terrestrial and marine species for CAM (1-8). In recent years, marine natural product bioprospecting has yielded a considerable number of drug candidates (9). Most of these molecules are still in preclinical or early clinical development but some are already in the market, such as cytarabine, and it is predicted that some, such as ET743 (Yondelis), will be approved in near future. The ecology of marine natural products reveals that many of these compounds are chemical weapons and have evolved into highly potent inhibitors of physiological processes in the prey, predators or competitors of the marine organisms that utilize them for survival. Certain natural products isolated from marine invertebrates have been shown to be, or are suspected to be, of microbial origin; this is now thought to be the case for a majority of such molecules. Marine microorganisms, whose immense genetic and biochemical diversity is only beginning to be appreciated, may become a rich source of novel chemical entities for discovering more effective drugs.