ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the significance of marine natural products for therapeutics and the sources for new biological activities and chemical structural diversity. Marine natural products emerged in the late 19th century, and biotechnology appeared as a field that provided the direction to undertake marine sources for drug development after 1980. From previous findings, it shows a clear picture that the marine environment represents a unique resource with massive biological diversity that potentially may lead to unique biological active chemical diversity that can be translated into biomedicine for therapeutics. The development of modern pharmaceuticals is considered one of the major undertakings of the 20th century, and the nature acted as a significant source of therapeutics from the early eras. The revival of natural products-initiated drug discovery is coupled with the exploration of novel natural resources such as those in the marine environment, as it covers 70% of the earth’s surface and signifies the largest unexplored wealthy resource.
