Bioactive Natural Products and Phytoceuticals
Cornelius Barry
The Barry lab is using metabolomics based methods to explore chemical diversity within the Solanaceae. This is part of a collaborative project between several faculty members at MSU.
Muraleedharan G. Nair
The Bioactive Natural Products and Phytoceuticals (BNPP) laboratory at Michigan State University is engaged in the discovery, isolation and identification of phytomedicines. The diseases include cancer, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), musculoskeletal disease, mental health problems, type-2 diabetes, obesity, inflammation and parasitic/microbial diseases. BNPP will address all aspects of product discovery including efficacy, toxicity, mode of action and dosage of identified phytochemical(s) and facilitate commercialization of such products as phytomedicines. The phytochemicals of interest will also be evaluated for animal and plant health. Therefore, our research involves bioassay-directed discovery, purification and chemical characterization of natural products from plants and microbes using preliminary anticancer, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial, nematicidal, mosquitocidal and insecticidal assays. Another component of this research focuses on phytoceuticals with biological activities to enhance food safety and add value to fresh and processed foods.