JAMAICA RANKS in the top 10 islands of the world for biodiversity, and there are vast numbers of undiscovered natural products present in our local angiosperms, microflora, marine organisms, macrofungi, insects and other fauna. The general recognition of the importance of biodiversity in strategies for sustainable national development creates an urgent need for the University to strengthen its research and training capacity in relevant disciplines and train a crop of young scientists in key areas.
Natural products chemistry is one such area; many activities of practical importance in, for example, forestry, pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals and other areas of non-traditional agriculture with export potential depend on expertise obtained by training in natural products chemistry. There is significant interest from pharmaceutical companies in biodiversity prospecting in developing countries. Jamaica, with its high biodiversity and proximity to North America, is a prime target for this type of exploration. A cadre of trained scientists must be in place so that we can benefit from this activity.
The Department of Chemistry maintains research programs in all major branches of chemistry, but has traditionally held a reputation as a centre for natural products chemistry. Over the past 55 years it has produced about 45 Ph.D. and 30 M.Sc./M.Phil graduates and probably close to 300 scientific papers in this speciality.
Among the major accomplishments at the UWI was the isolation and structure elucidation of hypoglycin from blighia sapida (ackee) and its identification as the agent of 'Jamaican vomiting sickness' and of the antibiotic monamycin from Streptomyces jamaicensis.
The department also hosts a biennial symposium in natural products and medicinal chemistry, which ends tomorrow. The 21st symposia being hosted in January will mark 40 years since its inception.
