A Tropical Marine Microbial Natural Products Geobibliography as an Example of Desktop Exploration of Current Research Using Web Visualisation Tools
2008

Exploring Marine Microbial Natural Products Using Visualization Tools

publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Joydeep Mukherjee, Lyndon E. Llewellyn, Elizabeth A. Evans-Illidge

Primary Institution: School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Hypothesis

Can web visualization tools enhance the exploration of marine microbial natural products research?

Conclusion

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of using geobibliography and visualization tools to enhance marine microbial biodiscovery.

Supporting Evidence

  • Marine habitats are the most biodiverse places on earth, harboring many taxa not found on land.
  • Over 15,000 new chemical entities have been discovered through marine natural products research.
  • Geographical information is crucial for legal provenance in biodiscovery efforts.

Takeaway

Scientists can use special software to see where marine microbes are found and how they can be used for new medicines.

Methodology

The study compiled a geobibliography of citations related to tropical marine microbial natural products and integrated it with visualization tools like Google Earth.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the exclusion of studies that do not report geographic locations.

Limitations

The accuracy of geographical data may vary due to different datum systems and the precision of reported coordinates.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.3390/md20080028

Want to read the original?

Access the complete publication on the publisher's website

View Original Publication