Greetings, (Target audience)

Im James Baxter, a student at GUGC whos close to completion their Bachelor of Science as an
organic chemist. Over the course of my studies Ive developed a particular interest in natural
product chemistry. This is a faucet of organic chemistry that involves the study of compounds
produced by organisms within the environment and the effects that these chemicals have on various
ecosystems as well as other organisms. The uses for these chemicals range from; maximising yield
when harvesting lobsters to fighting the deadliest diseases known to man.
Natural products chemistry plays a fundamental role in the discovery of novel drugs and drug leads
that are used to treat a wide variety of ailments from deadly diseases such as malaria to bacterial
infections resulting in mild irritation. Its estimated that 56% of drug leads are natural products or
derived from them. What would the world be like today if we had never discovered antibiotics?
Would this have a large effect on the modern-day life-expectancy? What do you think?
Unlike other methods of drug development that can heavily rely on guess and check techniques, the
study of natural products can be based on the observation of behaviours within nature and from this
we may extrapolate what types of effects certain compounds may elicit or gain some insight into the
suit of chemicals an organism may produce.
Malaria has been one of the biggest threats to human health throughout Africa, India and Asia for
over 100 years. The disease is caused by five species of parasite from the Plasmodium genus, most
notable P. falciparum. Infections are transmitted to humans by female mosquitos of the Anopheles
genus during their blood meal. This is when the parasites enter the blood stream.
During World War II chloroquine was used to begin treating troops afflicted with the disease.
Chloroquine remained the best treatment for malarial infection until 1955 when chloroquine
resistance began to appear within a population of Plasmodium located in south-east Asia,
particularly within species P. falciparum. Over the course of 27 years, this resistance moved into
India and Africa until in 1995 chloroquine was withdrawn as a treatment of malaria.
In 1967 the North Vietnamese government decided to start plant screening research for antimalarial compounds. Over the next decade a number of naturally derived compounds were
identified as potential treatments for the parasitic pathogen. Most notably of these; Artemisinin. A
compound isolated from Artemisia annua, a plant which the Chinese had used for over 2,000 years
to combat malarial infections. Not only could artemisinin rid the body of the chloroquine resistant
Plasmodium, it was also reported to clear the body faster than other drugs. This discovery had such
an impact, that it resulted in half of the 2015 Nobel Prize for medicine being awarded to the scientist
who unveiled its curative properties. The other half? Was awarded for the discovery of another drug
discovered via natural product chemistry.
However, you may still be asking but why should I support natural product chemistry? and to this
Id reply: Its obvious that theres a strong link between natural products chemistry and drug
discovery. In turn this means that theres a link between natural products research and lives saved.
Can you put a price on tens of millions of lives?
Thank you.