Marine natural products research: current directions and future potential.

Natural products research is increasingly turning to marine animals, plants, and microbes as source organisms. Several marine natural products are currently in preclinical and clinical evaluation, others show promising biological activities in in vitro and in vivo assays. Investigations of biological and chemical ecological phenomena in the marine world will contribute to a better understanding of marine habitats, and also provide a more founded basis regarding the search for pharmaceutically useful marine natural products.