Nature for Innovations in New Drugs
Nature can act as a vital resource for the discovery of new drug treatments for infectious, neurological, anti-inflammatory and other diseases. Natural drugs may be produced from a number of sources—from micro-organisms that are unseen or that exist in the environment, to micro-organisms found on and inside our bodies. Dr. Nathan Magarvey, Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology and Natural Products, aims to find natural products that could be used to develop new drugs. He’s doing so through the discovery and genomic mining of small molecules. Magarvey is identifying and isolating natural source materials for new bioactive compounds, so that they can be produced into more efficient and targeted therapies for diseases like cancer and heart disease. Magarvey’s research could lead to the development of new drugs that contain natural products to treat diseases.