News Chemistry

A potential drug found in a sea creature can now be made efficiently in the lab

This molecule is made naturally in marine critters but is hard to gather in large enough amounts

Bugula neritina

MARINE MEDICINE A bryozoan called Bugula neritina, shown here, is a natural source of bryostatin 1, which has been studied as a potential drug for many years.

Lovell and Libby Langstroth © California Academy of Sciences

By Laurel Hamers

- More than 2 years ago

A seaweed-like marine invertebrate contains a molecule that has piqued interest as a drug but is in short supply: Collecting 14 tons of the critters, a type of bryozoan, yields just 18 grams of the potential medicine.