Biological knowledge gap

To quote The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Policy Statement on the use of animals in research and development, as our biological knowledge increases, so too does the usefulness of nonanimal methods. There are still enormous gaps in our biological knowledge that limit the usefulness of cell culture and computer based research . 

Figure 3.2 The knowledge gap represents the large gap in understanding that exists between genetic information from the human genome project and information regarding biological function from cell and systems biology.

Our review covers the chemistry of bryozoan secondary metabolites and direct chemical ecological Interactions. Both the documented effects of bryozoan secondary metabolites and the role of adult and larval bryozoans in testing metabolites from other organisms will be discussed. A wide gap in biological knowledge exists and we hope to outline relevant work in this area and highlight directions for subsequent experiments required to bridge this deficiency. 

The survey revealed that the genus Erythrina was very rich in secondary metabolites particularly of the flavonoids class. The bioactivity profile represented the various classes fairly reasonably but it became apparent that a number of these isolates have not yet been tested for biological activity. The challenge remains for researchers to carry more work on these to fill in the knowledge gaps that still exist. 

The Ebro watershed has a large surface area (85,000 km2) and a complex drainage network (a total of 347 streams). The Ebro is a relatively well known river from the point of view of the biological communities composition. Studies exist on the aquatic fauna and flora [3]. However, the functional activity of the river is largely unknown, mostly because of its complexity and associated technical difficulties. This chapter provides a state-of-the art of the who is who in the biological communities in the river, as well as considerations about the threats imposed by habitat deterioration, eutrophication, pollution and species invasions, and indicates the current gaps that still exist in the knowledge of the river. 

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