THE HEALING POWER OF CHEMISTRY

By land or by sea, tradition has it that chemists first find interesting nature-made chemicals that show promise in fighting disease, then the scientists learn how to make them synthetically. Ultimately, many of the best drugs have been 

Zasloff is quick to note that nobody has a clue how a giant squid or an octopus—which have neither antibodies nor white blood cells called lymphocytes—avoids becoming consumed by microbes Over the years, he and his colleagues have uncovered many frog-made peptides that possess potent microbe-killing properties. Such a chemical defense system operates by virtue of the peptides ability to poke holes in the cell membranes that serve to protect bacteria from the outside world. In addition to the peptides, scientists including Zasloff have found hundreds of other types of molecules called alkaloids in amphibian skin. When inside cells, many alkaloids home in on structures called ion channels—tunnel-like assemblies through which important electrolytes pass. These are key cellular fixtures, 

Interestingly, scientists think that many of the alkaloid drugs in frog skin come from the bug meals they eat—spiders and other arthropods in particular. 

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And finally, Chapter 5, The Healing Power of Chemistry, visits some unusual places that may yield future medicines. Medicinal chemists search far and wide for molecules that could be useful... 

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