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Discover Your World With NOAA

100

Does this look like a drugstore?

Some of our most widely-used drugs come from nature:

• Aspirin was first extracted from the willow tree

• Morphine is extracted from the opium poppy

• Penicillin was discovered in common bread mold

Historically, almost all of our drugs from natural sources came from 

plants and animals that live on land. But recent searches for new drugs 

have discovered that marine invertebrates (animals without backbones) 

produce more antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory substances 

than any group of organisms on land. Strangely, many of these substances come from animals that spend most of their lives just sitting around. 

If you looked at these animals in an aquarium, you would probably get 

bored pretty quickly because they don’t move, and just look like blobs or 

skinny plants. And because they don’t look very interesting, you might 

assume that they are not important. 

What You Will Do

Make a poster to explain that we should protect animals that seem unimportant because they may 

provide new drugs for treating diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, and cancer

The Ocean Drugstore

But guess again! These unimpressive animals may hold the key to curing 

some of the most serious diseases that affect humans! Here’s a way that 

you can help teach other people not to jump to conclusions about the 

importance of ocean animals.

NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research has supported several 

expeditions to search for new drugs from the sea. The 2003 Medicines 

from the Deep Sea expedition was the first scientific exploration of marine organisms from deep-water habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. Samples 

collected during the expedition are being studied by scientists at Harbor 

Branch Oceanographic Institution for chemicals that may lead to new 

ways to treat cancer, infectious diseases, disorders of the immune and 

central nervous systems, and cardiovascular disease.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 101

Science | Service | STEWARDSHIP PROTECT THE EARTH

What You Will Need

❒ Copies of images from “Some Animals That 

Produce Raw Materials for New Drugs”

❒ Crayons, colored markers, or colored pencils

❒ Poster board

❒ Scissors (Be careful with sharp scissors!)

How to Do It

1. Use images and information from the worksheet to create a poster that explains why it 

is important to protect seemingly uninteresting ocean animals using the fact that these 

animals may be sources of important new 

drugs for treating human diseases.

2. Show your poster at school, to your parents, 

and to other groups. The more people know 

about the importance of ocean life, the more 

they will support actions to protect ocean 

resources.

Want to Do More?

Visit oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03bio/welcome.html for more about the 

Ocean Explorer Medicines from the Deep Sea 

Expedition and oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/

medicinesfromsea.html for a fact sheet.

This activity was adapted from Chemists with no Backbones 

(4 pages, 356k) by Mel Goodwin, The Harmony Project, 

Charleston, SC; from the Ocean Explorer 2003 Medicines from 

the Deep Sea Expedition [oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03bio/background/edu/media/meds_chemnobackbones.pdf]

Why Do Simple Animals Produce Powerful Drugs?

Many of ocean animals that produce powerful 

substances are sessile, which means that they 

do not move. This may give a clue about why 

they produce these substances: Basically, these 

animals are “sitting ducks,” so they may use 

powerful chemicals to repel predators. Another 

possibility is that since many of these species 

are fi lter feeders, they are exposed to all sorts 

of parasites and disease-causing bacteria in 

the water; so the powerful chemicals may be a 

defense against parasites or antibiotics against 

disease-causing organisms. Competition for 

space may explain why some of these animals 

produce anti-cancer substances: If two species 

are competing for the same piece of bottom 

space, it would be helpful to produce a substance 

that would attack rapidly dividing cells of the 

competing organism. Since cancer cells often 

divide more rapidly than normal cells, the same 

substance might have anti-cancer properties.

Competition for resources is intense in habitats such as reefs. Many of the sessile invertebrates produce 

natural products to help them be more competitive. Photo courtesy John Reed, NOAA.
noaa.gov

Discover Your World With NOAA

102

This is a colony of tunicates. 

Tunicates are animals whose 

body is basically a sack with 

two openings called siphons 

through which water enters 

and exits. Small particles 

fi ltered out of the water 

are used for food. They are 

called tunicates because their 

body wall resembles a coat 

or “tunic.” Some tunicates 

produce a chemical called 

Ecteinascidin, which is being 

tested in humans for treatment 

of breast and ovarian cancers 

and other solid tumors.

Sponges are the most primitive invertebrate animals that 

are composed of more than 

one cell. They do not have 

tissues or organs, but some 

of their cells are specialized 

to perform specifi c functions. 

Sponges of the genus Forcepia

produce substances called Lasonolides, which may provide 

new treatments for cancer. 

Other sponges belonging to 

the genera Topsentia, Hexadella, and Spongosorites produce 

a chemical named Topsentin, 

which is an anti-infl ammatory 

that may be helpful in treating diseases like arthritis. 

Deep-sea sponges of the genus 

Discodermia produce a tumor-fi ghting substance called 

Discodermalide.

Bryozoans are small, mosslike animals that do not move. 

They feed on very small fl oating animals called zooplankton. Some bryozoans produce 

a chemical called Bryostatin 

that may be useful in treating 

certain types of cancer such as 

leukemia and melanoma.

Some Animals That Produce Raw Materials for New Drugs

Photo courtesy NOAA. Photo courtesy NOAA. Photo courtesy NOAA. Courtesy Photo Collection of Dr. James P. McVey, 

NOAA Sea Grant Program

Photo courtesy NOAA. 

Gorgonians are a type of soft 

coral, also called “sea whips.” 

Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae 

is a sea whip that produces 

substances called Pseudopterosins (soo-doh-TER-ohsins) that reduce swelling and 

skin irritation and accelerate 

wound healing.

Cone snails (also called cone 

shells) are carnivorous marine 

snails found in coral reefs. In 

this picture, the cone snail 

Conus marmoreus is eating a 

cowrie (another kind of snail). 

Cone snails produce a venom that helps capture food. 

The venom of some species 

is powerful enough to kill a 

human being. The cone snail 

Conus magnus also produces a 

chemical named ω-conotoxin 

MVIIA , which is a powerful 

pain-killer.