Anti malarial drug from shellfish
green mussels (Perna viridis), found commonly in the Goa seawater, can yield malaria drugs, say scientists.
Two active molecules have been isolated from the mussel by researchers from the National Institute of Oceanography (nio), Goa; the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune; and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has been assigned a us patent for the discovery.
The team, led by Anil Chatterji of nio, began work on the antimalarial property of the mussel in 2004. It observed that the crude extract from the organism acts against Plasmodium falciparum, which is resistant to chloroquine. They purified the active ingredient and isolated two compounds