Lessons from Natural Products

Now that the application requirements for performance and degradation are understood, the next step is to select specific polymers and fabrication strategies. Some key insights may be gained by looking at natural products with performance similar to what is needed. 

Early polymer scientists examined natural polymers to gain insight into the complex chemistry that might be possible. Advances in analytical chemistry over the past 70 years have allowed detailed characterization of the chemistry of life and have provided us with an opportunity to easily revisit these early polymer discovery days and rediscover key polymer lessons from natural polymers. 

First lesson - mixtures and complex chemistry involving different chemical groups can provide unique solutions to complex problems. Examination of the 

Fourth lesson - combination of different compounds in unique macrostructure provides unique performance properties. Starch is used extensively in nature to store carbon and energy. Starch is readily digested and must be protected from degradation by a resistant coating, for example, a seed (e.g. com, wheat or rice) or a skin (e.g. potato). Woody materials such as trees, soft plants and grasses are composed of a complex combination of aliphatic and aromatic compounds (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). 

How might these four lessons from natural products be applied to synthetic polymers to achieve performance and degradation  

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Dinnis, D. and James, D. 2005. Engineering mammalian cell factories for improved recombinant monoclonal antibody production lessons from nature Biotechnology and Bioengineering 91(2), 180-189. 

Organic production systems are complex out of necessity, since soil fertility and plant protection are provided by applying the principles of ecology and lessons from natural ecosystems. It is this complexity, in part, that makes the need for unique education and training opportunities so important for organic farmers. In addition, the lack of institutional support with information from universities and government agencies in most countries makes this a valuable area to explore and for which to seek appropriate educational options. 

Lessons learned from natural products dereplication and prioritization in high-throughput assays can also be applied to the deconvolution problems, faced by combinatorial chemists when assaying pools of compounds. With limited resynthesis capabilities, not every active pool can be followed up, and the use of prioritization methods will be required, similar to those outlined above. 

Conn EE (1991) The metabolism of a natural product lessons learned from cyanogenic glycosides. Planta Med 57, S1-S9. 

The purpose of this final section is to draw some general lessons for current and future research programmes from the work leading to the discovery of azoxystrobin. These relate to (a) the use of natural products as starting points for the discovery of new agrochemicals (b) targeting markets from which a healthy return on the research investment can be made and (c) ways in which biological activity can most efficiently be optimised. 

Nature continues to serve as the learning laboratory for scientists and engineers regarding products and processes, but nature manufactures, filters, lubricates, cleans, and performs many other services without creating terminal waste. Nature lives where it works. How can we learn more from nature and apply the lessons to how we manufacture, filter, and lubricate, and do it simply, with less cost, and without the burdens of toxicity ... 

The octapeptide bromocontryphan (63) is a constituent of the venom of Conus radiatus [115]. While this small peptide has many of the structural features of a marine natural product, Olivera and co-workers have recently provided evidence that this compound is the result of the direct translation of a gene [115]. Thus, bromocontryphan is not a true natural product but has been included in this chapter based on its structure and the lessons that can be learned from a careful analysis of a compound s metabolic origin. The peptide is translated from mRNA as a... 

As the field of bioconjugation continues to evolve at a rapid pace, there are a number of challenges that are likely to be addressed. The first of these involves improvements in the overall reliability of existing protein modification reactions. A lesson from the field of natural product synthesis... 

Gerwick, W. H., Moore, B. S., (2012). Lessons from the past and eharting the future of marine natural products drug discovery and chemical biology. Chem. Biol., 19(1), 85-98. 

Combes G, Billet D, Mentzer C (1959) On the isolation, structure and properties of a new lignan from Himbertia madagascariensis. Bull Soc Chim France 2014 Conn EE (1979) Biosynthesis of cyanogenic glycosides. Naturwissenschaften 66 28-34 Conn EE (1991) The metabolism of a natural product Lessons learned from cyanogenic glycosides. Planta Med 57, Suppl lssue Sl-S9... 

I will next move to reseipine. One reason is that, in all approaches to this alkaloid, the final reaction used to assemble the pentacyclic skeleton is formally a Mannich-type reaction (a Bischler-Napieralski reaction or a Pictet-Spengler reaction). hi2 more honest reason is that this alkaloid is a classical target in natural product synthesis that has retained the interest of synthetic organic chemists for more than a half-century, including myself As we will see, there are some good lessons to be learned from approaches to this alkaloid. 

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