Bioactive molecules from the sea: Success, challenges and future perspectives

Bioactive compounds from marine organisms have attracted attention of scientists for only a few decades. Nowadays, more than 10,000 new bioactive molecules that exhibited anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, antifouling and other properties have been isolated from the marine organisms. Only a few of these compounds have been transformed into drugs that have appeared on the market or undergone clinical trials. Some of the marine derived compounds, like omega-3 fatty acids, are important nutraceuticals that provide health and medical benefits including treatment of diseases. In this chapter we reviewed some of the marine derived pharmaceuticals, highlighted challenges of marine drug discovery and outlined important future directions.