Natural products as a foundation for drug discovery.

Natural products have provided chemical leads for the development of many drugs for diverse indications. While most U.S. pharmaceutical firms have reduced or eliminated their in-house natural product groups, there is a renewed interest in this source of new chemical entities. Many of the reasons for the past decline in popularity of natural products are being addressed by the development of new techniques for screening and production. The aim of this unit is to review current strategies and techniques that increase the value of natural products as a source for novel drug candidates.