Welcome to LANBIO
LANBIO (Latin American Network for Research on Bioactive Natural Compounds) was created to promote Natural Product Research in South America, a region containing a significant part of the world’s biodiversity. The study of new molecules from Nature with potential use in the pharmaceutical industry, or the study of plant-insect interactions which may lead to molecules or mechanisms applicable in the agrochemical industry (it is accepted that a considerable proportion of marketed pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals derive from natural principles, and the tendency to use botanicals or their derivatives is constantly increasing), is therefore of paramount importance in this continent. These studies represent an important avenue to promote local research capacity and generate new knowledge, and but also to generate resources for sustainable funding of research activities.
Natural products research, whether oriented towards pharmaceutical or agrochemical products, is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary activity that includes analytical and synthetic chemistry, biology, biotechnology, molecular biology, botany and agronomy among others. In order to be productive within reasonable spans of time, natural products research must be multinational and interdisciplinary. No single country has all the natural resources, manpower and facilities required. Complementation of regional natural products research activities is therefore one critical reason for the existence of LANBIO. Another is to train young cadres in natural products science within multidisciplinary projects. Both these objectives are mutually complementary activities of LANBIO.