ceutical products constitute an almost completely 

 unexplored area of research. At the present time, 

 there is not a single industrial organization or 

 governmental agency that is making a continuous 

 systematic exploration of new bioactive substances 

 from marine creatures. (Bill S. 2661 was intro- 

 duced in the 90th Congress by Senator Warren 

 Magnuson to amend the Public Health Service Act, 

 42 U.S.C, Ch. 6A, Subch. Ill, for the estabhsh- 

 ment of a National Institute of Marine Medicine 

 and Pharmacology in the National Institutes of 

 Health. However, no action was taken on the bill.) 



Contemporary experimental marine biology has 

 indicated the potential of many other newer 

 pharmacologically active substances being ob- 

 tained from marine organisms. Many of these 

 substances are usually categorized or considered as 

 "toxins" or "poisons." However, their isolation, 

 characterization, and ultimate attention can lead 

 to useful medicines. In addition, these "new" 

 molecular structures can serve as starting points 

 for the synthesis of new classes of drugs. Already, 

 many previously unknown molecules have been 

 discovered, many of which have highly specific 

 and unique activity. Study of poisonous marine 

 organisms is required to understand marine ecol- 

 ogy and the subsequent development of new 

 protein food resources from the ocean. The subject 

 of fish food poisoning is of concern, not only 

 because of the need for protection against the 

 illnesses caused by eating poison-laden fish foods, 

 but also because of the probability that through 

 scientific knowledge about the pharmacologic 

 action of the toxic substances, new and useful 

 drugs may be developed. 



The majority of the bioactive substances from 

 the sea now under study may be divided into two 

 broad classes: the antibiotics, which are used to 

 control and destroy the organisms that cause 

 diseases, and the systemic drugs, wliich act directly 

 on parts of the body. They alleviate pain, stimu- 

 late or relax, promote healing, vary the speed of 

 certain biochemical reactions (such as blood clot- 

 ting) influence the operation of certain organs, or 

 act as antidotes to poisons. It is interesting that 

 nearly all of these drugs are poisons themselves at 

 suitable concentrations. Even the antibiotics are 

 poisons, although they will presumably kill only 

 pathogenic bacteria. There are more kinds of 

 animals in the sea than on land, and a greater 

 proportion of them use poisons as part of their 



equipment for survival. So far less than one 

 percent of all the sea organisms known to contain 

 biologically active materials have been studied. 



Antibiotics from the marine world wUl become 

 more important as the older drugs upon which 

 medical practice has rested for the past 20 years 

 become less effective against new generations of 

 resistant germs. Casual use of powerful antibiotics 

 for minor infections and in animal husbandry and 

 agriculture has hastened this. 



Recently, marine bacteria have been studied for 

 their ability to form antibiotic substances. Several 

 marine bacteria, isolated from tropical and polar 

 seas, have been found to produce different kinds 

 of potent antimicrobial substances. Some of these 

 are especially active against certain kinds of yeast. 

 Examples of antibiosis in various marine inverte- 

 brates are illustrated by work reported with 

 gorgonian corals. Sponges also produce antibiotics, 

 such as ectyonin and various other substances. 

 Eight different terpenoid lactones have been dem- 

 onstrated in the antibiotic gorgonians. Further 

 study has indicated, also, that the "sybiotic" 

 zooanthellae of alcyonarian corals contain cardi- 

 nene and crassin acetate. Crassin acetate exerts a 

 toxic action on parrot fish and sea urchins, but not 

 in a species of snail which feeds on gorgonians. 



A poison is merely an indicator of intense 

 biological activity. Diluted, it is highly useful and 

 often a very effective therapeutic agent. Probes 

 among toxins for antitoxins have unearthed a host 

 of fascinating pharmacological properties variously 

 described as antiviral, antibiotic, antitumor, hemo- 

 lytic, analgesic, psycho-pharmacological, cardioin- 

 hibitory, fungicidal, and growth inhibitory. Indica- 

 tions are that some marine toxins rank among the 

 most toxic substances known. Chemicals isolated 

 from certain toxic marine fishes are 200,000 times 

 more powerful in blocking nervous activity than 

 drugs currently used in laboratory research on 

 nerve and brain activity. A substance extracted 

 from the primitive hagfish has been used experi- 

 mentally to slow down the heart during open-heart 

 surgery, making it easier to operate. One of the 

 most intriguing aspects of drugs from the sea is the 

 presence of antitumor and antimicrobial agents in 

 such common organisms as clams and oysters. 



Attempts to find useful bioactive substances in 

 the sea by searching folklore, studying biological 

 activities of marine plants and animals or inter- 

 viewing native witch doctors produce Uttle and 



VlI-38 



