Anticancer compounds discovered in marine fauna in Panama

(Panama-Guide) - La Prensa -  Biologists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) today confirmed the discovery of more than 45 compounds in the marine fauna in Panama, which have anticarcinogenic properties. The International Collaborative Group on Biodiversity (ICBG), launched in the STRI by researchers from the University of Utah, consists of Americans and Panamanians, and completed their studies in the Coiba National Park, of 270,125 hectares, that protects marine, coastal, and island ecosystems in the Pacific. The scientists search has focused on populations of coral, sponges, plants, fungi and bacteria associated with sea urchins, tunicates and fish. Among the promising sources of supply of chemicals include cyanobacteria, called blue-green algae, which produce the "Coibamida A, a compound extremely active against cancer cells. Some findings include the "veraguamida A", an anticarcinogenic compound which was named after the western province of Veraguas, Panama, and "santacruzamate", an antiparasitic compound alluding to Santa Cruz Island in the Pacific. Also at the University of Panama substances called "coibanoles" were isolated. The chemical has been obtained from fungi growing inside the leaves of a plant called "desmotes incomparabilis" - a plant only found in Coiba Island. The research project provides training benefits for the host country, including intellectual property rights and monetary compensation in the event that the compound is developed as pharmaceutical drugs, said spokesmen of the STRI.

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Original source: Panama-Guide.com

Date Retrieved: March 8, 2011.