The incredible chemical weapon-making abilities of fungi, bacteria, and plants have created an incredible array of compounds that are useful to humans. Thanks to the University of Minnesota for sponsoring this video! http://twin-cities.umn.edu/ Thanks also to our supporters on https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth ___________________________________________ To learn more, start your googling with these keywords: Bioprospecting: the systematic search for and development of new sources of chemical compounds, genes, micro-organisms, macro-organisms, and other valuable products from nature ___________________________________________ Subscribe to MinuteEarth on YouTube: http://goo.gl/EpIDGd Support us on Patreon: https://goo.gl/ZVgLQZ And visit our website: https://www.minuteearth.com/ Say hello on Facebook: http://goo.gl/FpAvo6 And Twitter: http://goo.gl/Y1aWVC And download our videos on itunes: https://goo.gl/sfwS6n ___________________________________________ Credits (and Twitter handles): Script Writer: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida) Script Editor: Emily Elert (@eelert) Video Illustrator: Jesse Agar Video Director: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida) Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder ___________________________________________ References: Bills, G.F. and Gloer, J.B. (2016) Biologically Active Secondary Metabolites from the Fungi. Microbiology Spectrum 4(6): 6 Cragg, G.M. and Newman, D.J. (2005) Biodiversity: A continuing source of novel drug leads. Pure and Appled Chemistry 77: 7–24 Mazid, M., Khan, T.A. and Mohammad, F. (2011) Role of secondary metabolites in defense mechanisms of plants. Biology and Medicine 3(2): 232–249. Newman, D.J. and Cragg, G.M. (2016) Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs from 1981 to 2014. Journal of Natural Products 79: 629-661 O’Brien, J. and Wright, G.D. (2011) An ecological perspective of microbial secondary metabolism. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 22:552–558