Dear Colleagues,

The oceans sustain a huge variety of fish, marine mammals, invertebrates, macro- and microalgae, cyanobacteria and other microorganisms. The level of diversity is much higher than it is on land; it is only partly explored, and that gives an essentially limitless source of structurally unique chemical compounds with potential biological activity.
A great percentage of all new drugs introduced in the market come from natural substances. Many of these drugs and related products, such as functional foods and nutraceuticals, have been derived from marine organisms, showing that despite increasingly sophisticated and effectiveness methods to design and produce drugs in the lab, Mother Nature is still the best pharmacological factory. Thus, many marine compounds are being studied for biomedical activity (anticoagulant, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, etc.) as potential pharmaceuticals for the benefit of humankind, yielding important information on their cytogenetic and molecular effects and mechanisms of action.
Marine compounds are also investigated for possible cosmetic, agrochemical, food processing, material and biosensor applications. So, for all substances that will potentially be in contact with humans and released into the environment, there is an impelling need to reveal their possible interactions with cell compounds and eventually their effects on human health and on the ecosystems.
Besides, other marine compounds are toxic for the human beings. This is the case of the marine toxins, a wide group of substances that can contaminate seafood, mainly shellfish and fish, resulting in food poisoning. Although the vast effects for human health are generally well known, the molecular basis of their action mechanisms have not been always described in detail.
Therefore, the main objective of this special issue of Marine Drugs is to compile studies on the effects of marine compounds, both from the cytogenetic and the molecular points of view.

Prof. Dr. Blanca Laffon
Guest Editor

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• marine compounds
• marine drugs
• marine toxins
• molecular effects
• molecular targets
• molecular interactions
• gene expression
• protein expression
• genotoxicity
• DNA repair
• cytotoxicity Ecotoxicity