Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. jon_clardy@hms.harvard.edu
The availability of some natural products with promising anticancer activity has been limited because they are synthesized by symbiotic bacteria associated with specific animals. Recent research has identified the clusters of bacterial genes responsible for their synthesis, so that the molecules can be synthesized in alternative, easily cultured bacteria.