166 MARINE SCIENCE 
STATEMENT By Dr. PAvuL R. SAUNDERS, PROFESSOR OF PHARMACOLOGY AND ASSO: 
CIATE DEAN, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, LOS 
ANGELES, CALIF. 
MarcuH 18, 1961. 
Hon. WARREN G. MAGNUSON, 
Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 
Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 
DEAR SENATOR Macnuson: I have your letter of February 27, 1961, regaraing 
the marine sciences bill, S. 901, hearings on which are to be held scon. I am 
pleased to learn that this bill proposes a substantial expansion in many areas 
of the marine sciences. 
' My own work, of which Dr. Galler spoke to you, concerns the pharmaco- 
logical and chemical investigation of the potent toxins present in the venoms 
of a number of marine animals (fish, mollusks, and cther animals). Little work 
has been done previously in this field, in contrast to the very large effort which 
has been made in studies on the vemons of terrestrial animals (snakes, insects, 
and others). There is a practical interest in these marine animal venoms be- 
eause stings from such organisms have caused serious injury or death, and 
adequate treatment has not been possible because of the lack of knowledge of 
the nature of the poisoning produced. Certain of the venoms possess in addi- 
tion unique actions which are of general scientific and medical interest. 
Prior to initiation of the above studies, I worked for a number of years on 
various problems related to the treatment of heart disease. I was fortunate 
Several years ago to spend 2 years at a marine laboratory, and at that time 
first became aware of the deficiencies in our knowledge of biologically active 
substances in marine organisms. We have demonstrated since that time the 
existence of some extremely active substances with marked effects upon mam- 
mals, and yet we have been able to study only a very few species. Other 
workers have demonstrated the presence of potent substances in stingrays, the 
Portugese man-of-war, the tissues of some fishes, various micro-organisms, and 
other plants and animals, but the elucidation of the nature and actions of most 
of these substances has not yet been accomplished. 
At the present time only some of the more obvious problems are being inyves- 
tigated with respect to the study of substances of general biological and possibly 
medical interest. It is well known that many of the most useful drugs now used 
in clinical medicine (reserpine in high blood pressure and other conditions, 
digitalis in heart failure, morphine in pain, and many others) are derived from 
terrestrial plants, the useful medical applications of which were discovered hun- 
dreds or thousands of years ago. Such more or less “accidental” discovery of 
marine plants or animals of medicinal value is of course much less likely, and 
a more systematic exploration should be initiated. The few examples described 
above represent, I am sure, only a minute fraction of the biologically active 
substances present in marine forms. It is only through a major effort directed 
toward the chemical and pharmacological investigation of marine organisms 
that we will be able to find and evaluate existing but now unknown substances 
of scientific and possibly therapeutic value. 
I would suggest that such studies could most effectively be carried out in a 
new type of research group at a marine laboratory. It it extremely difficult 
to pursue such studies in other than such a facility, because of the necessity of 
collecting and maintaining various marine animals used in the work. Further- 
more, the marine laboratory provides in its existing staff persons who can be 
expected to provide the general biological background for such studies. It is 
my opinion that the pharmacological investigations should be carried out by 
persons with previous experience in this field, however, as the studies will 
involve the use of knowledge and procedures not now available in most marine 
laboratories. I suggest the establishment in several of the larger marine labora- 
tories of new divisions of marine pharmacology (analogous to departments of 
pharmacology now in existence in schools of medicine, industrial laboratories, 
and elsewhere). The function of such groups would be the investigation of 
marine plants and animals with a view to (1) the discovery, purification, and 
isolation of substances with potent biological activity, and (2) the pharmaco- 
logical investigation of the effects, mechanism of action, and possible therapeutic 
application of such substances. After compounds with potentially useful (both 
from the scientific and medical standpoints) actions have been found and studied 
in the laboratory, certain of these substances of possible therapeutic value could 
be investigated further at clinical research facilities such as those in many 
existing schools of medicine. 
