ABSTRACT
The unique structural diversity inherent in natural products continues to be an important HTS resource. As with HTOS and other technologies, trends have had a disturbing influence on the adoption of natural products as a primary discovery resource (Fig. 2). Notable is the stability of microbials as a discovery resource, but
plants have had a sine-wave history and continue to be susceptible to technological
pressures and prejudices. Microbials are by far the most widely used natural resource in industrial screening
programs. They have been mainstay in HTS applications in several major companies, with little fluctuation in their use over time. The reason is threefold: economics, reproducibility, and a continued history of new biomolecular discovery. Once a company has established and staffed a microbiological facility on site, costs are manageable and predictable.
