Alvarez de Roman, Noelia

Antonelli, Alexandre

Collemare, Jerome

Graham, Ian Alexander

Gratzfeld, Joachim

Hollingsworth, Peter J

Howes, Melanie-Jayne R

Kersey, Paul J

Leitch, Ilia J

Lucas, Eve

Paton, Alan

Perez-Escobar, Oscar A

Richardson, James E

English

White Rose Research Online

This is a repository copy of Untapped resources for medical research.White Rose Research Online URL for this paper:https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/167575/Version: Accepted VersionArticle:Perez-Escobar, Oscar A, Richardson, James E, Howes, Melanie-Jayne R et al. (10 more authors) (2020) Untapped resources for medical research. Science. ISSN 1095-9203 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc8085eprints@whiterose.ac.ukhttps://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request.                              sciencemag.org      SCIENCE    VOL. xxx  • galley printed 2 November, 2020  • •  For Issue Date: ???? 1    Untapped	resources	for	medical	research	A	 therapeutic	 solution	 to	 the	 current	 corona-virus	 (COVID-19)	pandemic	 is	 urgently	needed,	but	 new	 drug	 discovery	 and	 development	 is	 a	lengthy	 process.	 Pharmaceuticals	 derived	 from	plants	 and	 fungi	 remain	 important	 in	 our	 ar-mory	 against	 numerous	 diseases	 (1,	 2),	 yet	much	 of	 plant	 and	 fungal	 biodiversity	 remains	unexplored	 for	 drug	 discovery	 (3).	 Of	 about	390,000	known	plant	 species,	7%	have	medici-nal	 uses	 (4),	 and	 the	 wider	 potential	 of	 the	world’s	 flora	 to	 yield	 new	medicines	 has	 been	discussed	by	conservation	biologists	for	decades	(5).	We	 urgently	 need	 a	 comprehensive	 scien-tific	 study	of	biodiversity	 to	 inspire,	 accelerate,	and	innovate	medicinal	discovery.		Acquiring	usable	plant	and	fungal	material	is	resource-consuming,	but	a	partial	solution	lies	in	specimens	 already	 housed	 in	 herbaria,	 botanic	gardens	(6),	and	fungal	biological	resource	cen-ters.	Herbaria	host	about	380	million	specimens	from	 all	 described	 plant	 species,	 and	 botanic	gardens	maintain	about	one-third	of	all	known	land	 plant	 species	 (7).	 Fungal	 collections	 cur-rently	host	about	860,000	strains	worldwide	(8).	These	 collections	 are	 invaluable	 resources	 rep-resenting	unparalleled	chemical	diversity.		Evolutionary	 relationships	 inferred	 from	DNA	could	be	used	to	guide	selection	of	species	with	medicinal	 potential.	 Just	 a	 few	milligrams	from	 specimens	 enable	 comprehensive	 chemi-cal	 profiling,	 uncovering	 new	 chemical	 entities	that	share	chemical	or	physical	characteristics	to	drug	molecules,	potentially	with	novel	modes	of	action	(1,	2).	Artificial	intelligence	and	emerging	technologies	 could	 reveal	 compounds	 with	mechanistic	effects	relevant	to	diseases	threat-ening	humanity	(2,	9).	Furthermore,	collections	are	increasingly	used	to	generate	genomic	data,	which	 could	 be	 used	 to	 identify	 members	 of	gene	families	known	to	be	 involved	 in	the	syn-thesis	of	useful	compounds	(10).		Investing	in	a	new	era	of	large-scale	explora-tion	 of	 therapeutic	 candidates	 from	 nature	could	 help	 humanity	 prepare	 for	 future	 health	challenges.	 Scientists,	 stakeholders	 and	 gov-ernments	must	establish	functional	and	equita-ble	 agreements	 to	 ensure	 that	 this	work	 com-plies	 with	 the	 Nagoya	 Protocol,	 Access	 and	Benefit	Sharing	legislation	and	reflects	the	value	and	 origins	 of	 specimens	 collected	 during	 the	colonial	 era	 (11).	 It	 is	 also	 critical	 that	benefits	revert	 to	 the	 nations	 and	 ethnic	 groups	 from	where	these	resources	derive	(12).		Oscar	A.	Pérez-Escobar1,	James	E.	Richardson2,3,	Melanie-Jayne	R.	Howes1,4*,	Eve	Lucas1,	Noelia	Álvarez	de	Róman5,	Jérôme	Collemare6,	Ian	A.	Graham7,8,	Joachim	Gratzfeld5,	Paul	J.	Kersey1,	Ilia	J.	Leitch1,	Alan	Paton1,	Peter	M.	Hollingsworth3,	Alexandre	Antonelli1,9	1Royal	Botanic	Gardens,	Kew,	TW9	3AE,	UK.	2Department	of	Biology,	Faculty	of	Natural	Sciences,	Universidad	del	Rosario,	Bogotá,	Colombia.	3Royal	Botanic	Garden	Edinburgh,	Edinburgh,	EH3	5LR,	UK.	4Institute	of	Pharmaceutical	Science,	Faculty	of	Life	Sciences	&	Medicine,	King's	College	London,	SE1	9NH,	UK.	5Botanic	Gardens	Conservation	International,	Richmond,	TW9	3BW,	UK.	6Westerdijk	Fungal	Biodiversity	Institute,	Utrecht,	Netherlands.	7Centre	for	Novel	Agricultural	Products,	Department	of	Biology,	University	of	York,	York,	YO10	5DD,	UK	8UKRI-BBRSC	High	Value	Biorenewables	Network.		9Gothenburg	Global	Biodiversity	Centre	and	University	of	Gothenburg,	Göteborg,	Sweden.	*Corresponding	author:	Email:	m.howes@kew.org		 ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS AA acknowledges financial support from the Swe-dish Research Council, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, the Knut and Alice Wallen-berg Foundation and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.	 REFERENCES	AND	NOTES	1.M.-J.	R.	Howes	et	al.	Molecules	 from	nature:	Recon-ciling	 biodiversity	 conservation	 and	 global	healthcare	 imperatives	 for	 sustainable	use	of	me-dicinal	 plants	 and	 fungi.	 Plants,	 People,	 Planet,	 In	press.	2.D.	 J.	 Newman,	 G.	 M.	 Cragg.	 Natural	 products	 as	sources	of	new	drugs	over	the	nearly	four	decades	from	01/1981	to	09/2019.	Journal	of	Natural	Prod-ucts,	83,	770-803	(2020)	3.	J.	W.	H.	Li,	J.	C.	Vederas,	Drug	discovery	and	natural	products:	End	of	an	era	or	an	endless	frontier?	Sci-ence,	325,	161-165,	(2009)	4.	 K.	 J.	 Willis	 (Ed.),	 State	 of	 the	World’s	 Plants	 2017.	Report.	 UK:	 Royal	 Botanic	 Gardens,	 Kew.	https://stateoftheworldsplants.org	(2017)	5.	W.	F.	Laurence	et	al.	Biomass	collapse	in	Amazonian	forest	 fragments.	 Science,	 278,	 1117-1118,	(1997)6.	 		6.	E.	K.	Meineke	et	al..	The	unrealized	potential	of	her-baria	 for	 global	 change	 biology.	 Ecological	Mono-graphs	88,	505-525,	(2018)	7.	R.	Mounce,	P.	Smith,	S.	Brockington.	Ex	situ	conser-vation	of	plant	diversity	in	the	world's	botanic	gar-dens.	Nature	Plants,	3,	795-802,	(2017)	8.	World	Data	Centre	for	Microorganisms	(WDCM)	Cul-ture	Collections	 Information	Worldwide	 (accessed	on	7	May	2020).	Available	online:		9.	J.	M.	Stokes	et	al.	A	deep	learning	approach	to	anti-biotic	 discovery.	 Current	 Biology	 180,	 688-702,	(2020)	10.	 R.	 D.	 Kersten,	 J.-K.	Wenig.	 Gene-guided	 discovery	and	 engineering	 of	 branched	 cyclic	 peptides	 in	plants.	PNAS	115,	E10961-E10969,	(2018)	11.	S.	Das,	M.	Lowe,	Nature	Read	 in	Black	and	White:	decolonial	 approaches	 to	 interpreting	 natural	 his-tory	collections.	 Journal	of	Natural	Science	Collec-tions	6,	4-14,	(2018)	12.	A.	Antonelli,	 R.	 Smith,	M.	 S.	 Simmonds,	Unlocking	the	 properties	 of	 plants	 and	 fungi	 for	 sustainable	development.	Nature	Plants	5,	1100-1102,	(2019)		10.1126/science.abc8085	

Untapped resources for medical research

Howes, Melanie-Jayne R.

Pérez-Escobar, Oscar A.

Leitch, Ilia J.

Collemare, Jérôme

Richardson, James E.

Álvarez de Róman, Noelia

Kersey, Paul J.

Hollingsworth, Peter M.

Graham, Ian A.

Shared Research Repository

Untapped resources for medical research.

Newman

Meineke

James

Mounce

Kersten

Crossref

https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/167575/1/P_rez_Escobar_edit2_revised_17_06_20_16.57.pdf

Untapped resources for medical research

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