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drug candidate in human interest [3, 38, 40, 85]. The therapeutic agent Scytonemin
isolated from an extremophilic marine cyanobacterium
Stigonema
sp. collected
from Waldo Lake, Oregon and characterized as a protein serine/threonine kinase
inhibitor [87]. Various other molecules have been screened in the hope of human
interest to cure the cancer and related diseases. A battery of such compounds has
been explored in the extremophilic marine organisms [29, 34, 43, 58, 60, 68, 77].
4 Future Implications of Extremolytes
Multiple irradiations such as X-rays, gamma rays, UV rays, and other electromag-
netic radiations have shown tremendous application in human life. Also, various
radioisotopes are being used in agriculture, medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic
purposes. Apart from that, various nuclear installation sites or reactors are always
prone to accidents. Besides the planed radiation exposure for human benefit, the
unplanned radiation catastrophe cannot be ruled out. Under this scenario, develop-
ment of an effective radioprotector is important. The extremophilic microbes and
their niches are the best models having abilities to provide molecules of human
interest for radioprotection. These sustainable resources of microorganisms have
been explored in the past to find the lethal radiation environment [39, 48, 89]. We at
Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) are involved in explor-
ing the functional properties of radioresistant bacteria, isolated from anoxic rock
samples, potentially leading to the development of an effective radioprotective bio-
molecule in future. Biomolecules extracted from the radioresistant bacteria has been
tested for their antioxidant activities, in vitro DNA and protein protection prop-
erties and radioprotective efficacy in vitro and in vivo models. Studies performed
at INMAS revealed potential support in lower animals, exposed to lethal doses of
gamma radiation. The bio-molecule designed from radioresistant bacteria was also
found to be capable enough to protect the radiosensitive organs (such hemopoitic,
gastrointestinal and reproductive system) in mice model system. A future impli-
cation of mode of bio-molecule administration can be predicted to enhance the
immunomodulatory activity with less post irradiation infection. The chances of
survivability in irradiated mice, pre-treated with drug, are expected to increase
compared to the control mice.
5 Expert Commentary and 5 Year View
In the past two decades thousands of molecules and drug candidates have been
screened from different mesophilic microorganisms and evaluated for their pos-
sible therapeutic human applications. Many microbial bioproducts are being used
as life saving drugs. However, comparatively insignificant efforts were focused on
extremophilic microbes as the potential drug reservoirs of the future. In the recent
years, much attention has given to the areas of astrobiology, oceanology, nuclear
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