New Avenues in Drug Discovery and Bioactive Natural Products is the second volume of the Natural Medicine book series. It is devoted to current research in drug discovery from natural sources. The volume features 13 chapters that cover modern analytical and scientific approaches. The book starts with chapters on advanced analytical and research techniques, such as genomic mining, quality control of herbal drugs, DNA fingerprinting, high-throughput screening, molecular docking and extraction techniques. The contributors provide a summary of challenges for researchers and commercial applications where possible. The book also features chapters dedicated to specific medicinal agents that target a disease (glycosides, SARS-CoV2 spike protein inhibitors, and andrographolides. The collection of important research topics in natural product chemistry aims to help the scholars and researchers in the scientific community that are involved in the extraction and development of new medicines.

Bioactive natural products are a rich source of novel therapeutics. Thus, the search for bioactive molecules from nature continues to play an important role in fashioning new medicinal agents. This volume, which comprises sixteen chapters written by active researchers and leading experts in natural products chemistry, brings together an overview of current discoveries in this remarkable field. It also provides information on the industrial application of natural products for medicinal purposes. This book will serve as a valuable resource for researchers to predict promising leads for developing pharmaceuticals to treat various ailments and disease manifestations.

This book highlights different natural products that are derived from the plants and microbes that have shown potential as the lead compounds against infectious diseases and cancer. Natural products represent an untapped source of strikingly diverse chemotypes with novel mechanisms of action and the potential to serve as anticancer and anti-infective agents. The book discusses a range of biotechnologically valuable bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites that have been derived from plant and microorganisms from various ecological niches. It also reviews the latest developments in the field of genomics, bioinformatics and industrial fermentation for harnessing the microbial products for commercial applications. In turn, the book’s closing section reviews important biotechnological applications of various natural products. Combining the expertise of specialists in this field, the book’s goal is to promote the further investigation of natural sources for the development of standardized, safe and effective therapies.

This book covers the recent innovations relating to various bioactive natural products (such as alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, anthraquinones, steroids, polysaccharides, tannins and polyphenolic compounds, volatile oils, fixed oils, fats and waxes, proteins and peptides, vitamins, marine products, camptothecin, piperines, carvacrol, gedunin, GABA, ginsenosides) and their applications in the pharmaceutical fields related to academic, research and industry.

Natural products hold a prominent position in the current discovery and development of drugs and have diverse indications for both human and animal health. Plants, in particular, play a leading role as a source of specialized metabolites with medical effects. Other organisms, such as marine and terrestrial animals and microorganisms, produce very important drug candidate molecules. Specialized metabolites from these varied natural sources can be used directly as bioactive compounds or drug precursors. In addition, due to their broad chemical diversity, they can act as drug prototypes and/or be used as pharmacological tools for different targets. Some examples of natural metabolites that have been developed into useful medical drug are cardiotonic digoxin from Digitalis sp., antimalarial artemisinin from Artemisia annua, anti-cancer taxol from Taxus sp., or podophyllotoxin from Podophyllum peltatum, which served as a synthetic model for the anti-cancer etoposide. The study of natural products is still attracting great scientific attention and their current importance, as a valuable lead for drug discovery, is undebatable. I cordially invite authors to contribute original articles, as well as survey articles, that give the readers of Molecules **MOLECULES NEEDS TO BE ITALICIZED** updated and new perspectives on natural products in drug discovery, including but not limited to natural sources, identification and separation of bioactive phytochemicals, standardization, new biological targets, pre-clinical and clinical trials, pharmacological effects/side effects, and bioassays.

A fresh examination of the past successes of natural products as medicines and their new future from both conventional and new technologies. High-performance liquid chromatography profiling, combinatorial synthesis, genomics, proteomics, DNA shuffling, bioinformatics, and genetic manipulation all now make it possible to rapidly evaluate the activities of extracts as well as purified components derived from microbes, plants, and marine organisms. The authors apply these methods to new natural product drug discoveries, to microbial diversity, to specific groups of products (Chinese herbal drugs, antitumor drugs from microbes and plants, terpenoids, and arsenic compounds), and to specific sources (the sea, rainforest, and endophytes). These new opportunities show how research and development trends in the pharmaceutical industry can advance to include both synthetic compounds and natural products, and how this paradigm shift can be more productive and efficacious.

Natural products continue to play a key role in drug development. A recent analysis of the drug market in the developed world revealed that 40% of total clinically approved drugs were either unmodified natural products or their semi-synthetic derivatives. This book series focuses on reviews of exciting new bioactive natural products that have huge potential as drugs. It highlights the everlasting importance of natural products in our lives. Each volume brings reviews contributed by eminent scientists in the field. The first volume covers the following topics: - bioactive compounds from marine invertebrates - natural product derived drugs for immunological and inflammatory diseases - clinical trials of curcumin, camptothecin, astaxanthin, and biochanin - antibacterial and antifungal drugs from natural sources - natural products as anti-HIV medicines.