Natural Product Screening for Antibacterial Agents
Lynn L. Silver,
LL Silver Consulting, NJ
Screening of natural products for antibacterial activity has a long history, but the output of useful new chemical entities has decelerated. While modern technology has led to increased assay throughput, speedier chemical isolation and identification, the problems of dereplication (rapid identification of common compounds) and toxicity testing remain. "Smarter" assays, early counterscreening, better sample sources, and biological dereplication schemes can aid in further exploitation of the rich natural product universe.