Coral Reef Benefits By: Malcolm Murrell-Byrd
And as all very diverse ecosystems offer unque adaptations from producing chemicals for defence or attack, coral reefs is a home to many active compounds for the treatment of certain cancers, HIV, and malaria. The Coral reefs ecosystem is refered to the 21st century medicine cabinate where the list of new drugs is growing.
Examples of medicaine form coral:
1. Secosteroids, an enzyme used by corals to protect themselves from disease, is used to treat asthma, arthritis and other inflammatory disorders.
2. Blue-green algae found in Caribbean mangroves, are used to treat small-cell lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute also approved blue-green algae for the treatment of melanoma and some tumors.