Top 10 Drugs That Exist in Nature

In the 1950s, Galantamine was first isolated from the bulb of the common snowdrop, also known as Galanthus nivalis (guh-LAN-thiss nih-VAL-iss). However, it’s now been found in a range of snowdrop varieties. This alkaloid substance was discovered to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. As such, it was realized that Galantamine could impact people who have dementia and Alzheimer's. Galantamine can slow down the progression of these diseases by ebbing the decline of the brain’s ability to transmit chemical messages. Like with most treatments, sadly, there are side effects. The most common are gastrointestinal issues, such as nausea and diarrhea. There’s also research into how Galantamine could help autistic people, while proteins in snowdrops are being examined as a possible treatment for H.I.V.

In 1978, Streptomyces avermitilis (strepta-MY-sees avver-muh-TILLIS), an actinomycete (aactinno-MY-seet), which is a type of bacteria, was isolated at the Kitasato Institute (kee-TAZZA-toh) from a soil sample in Japan. In 2015, William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura (SATTO-shee OH-moore) were awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine due to their work in discovering Avermectin from the bacteria. Avermectin is a series of antiparasitic drugs and pesticides that combat parasitic worms and insect pests in both humans and animals. Some of the parasitic diseases that were significantly lowered from this discovery include river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (filler-EYE-AH-sis). One Avermectin medicine that became well-known for misinformation was ivermectin. It was wrongly believed to help with the effects of Covid-19.

Tu Youyou (too yoo-YOO/YOH) received a Nobel Prize for her work in discovering Artemisinin, a group of drugs that primarily combat malaria. She found this in 1972 when she extracted the substance from the plant sweet wormwood, also known as Artemisia annua (arta-mee-see-yuh ann-you-uh), hence the name Artemisinin. For centuries, healers, primarily in China, have used sweet wormwood to help treat high fevers, hemorrhoids, and malaria, with the last one being something Tu was able to confirm. While Artemisinin is very effective in treating malaria, the cost of creating it, the effort required, and the poor availability of sweet wormwood create significant hurdles to overcome.

This class of drugs is known as lipid-lowering medications, which means they reduce things like cholesterol in the bloodstream. Primarily, Statins are used to reduce the risk and effects of heart disease like angina and possible heart attacks. Before Statins came along, most high-cholesterol patients were treated with a low-fat diet, which can be hit and miss with its effectiveness. In the 1970 and 80s, an international group of scientists from Japan, the U.K, and the U.S were working on this issue. They discovered that certain fungi gave off an enzyme that would become the precursor for Statin production. These fungi were Penicillium citrinum (sit-TREEN-num) and Aspergillus terreus (asper-JILLUS terry-iss). Statin medication was eventually approved in the U.S in 2001.

In 1953, American chemist Edmund Kornfeld was examining a soil sample that was collected by a missionary from the jungles of Borneo. Kornfeld discovered the bacteria, Amycolatopsis orientalis (ammi-cola-TOP-sis orey-in-TAL-iss, that produced a compound capable of destroying penicillin-resistant staphylococci (cockeye). Originally given the dull name of “compound 05865”, it was soon changed to Vancomycin. However, Vancomycin is notoriously hard to create as the compound needs to be purified. An early non-pure version nicknamed “Mississippi mud” from its dark-brown color had side effects of kidney damage and hearing loss. As a result, Vancomycin typically won’t be the first medicine tried to cure bacterial infections like endocarditis and meningitis. But pure versions have been shown to be effective.

While examining soil samples from Norway in 1971, scientists discovered the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum (toh-lee-poh-CLAYDEE-um INFLATE-um). They soon saw it produced Ciclosporin, which has an immunosuppressive effect. That meant this medication could be vital for those requiring organ transplants to reduce the chance of rejection. By 1980, Ciclosporin, which is spelled numerous different ways, was used in trials for liver transplant patients. Before Ciclosporin, patients had a survival rate of 50% after a year. After using it, that increased to 80%. Ciclosporin was soon approved as a medicine in the U.S., and it’s even on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Other illnesses that Ciclosporin treats include Crohn's disease, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

If you were to have any of the drugs mentioned in this list within your bathroom cabinet, it’d likely be aspirin. Also known as Acetylsalicylic acid or A.S.A, its creation was inspired by the use of salicylic acid that’s located in the bark and leaves of willow trees. In this form, this medicine has been treating people since the days of Ancient Egypt when they chewed on the leaves and twigs of the tree. In 1853, French chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt combined sodium salicylate (suh-LISSLE-ate) and acetyl chloride to create aspirin in its more modern form. Aspirin traditionally treats pain, inflammation, and fever. But it’s also been used to treat other illnesses such as rheumatic fever, Kawasaki disease, and pericarditis.

The Madagascar periwinkle, or Catharanthus roseus (catha-RAN-this ROSY-iss), is a plant that produces two life-saving treatments. First, we have Vinblastine, first isolated in 1958. It was discovered that it reduced the number of white blood cells within the body. With that in mind, Vinblastine has been used in chemotherapy to treat several types of cancers. The other medication is Vincristine, which was isolated in 1961. After seeing a similar reaction to Vinblastine, Vincristine has also been used in chemotherapy to tackle various cancer forms. In some cases, it’s increased the survival rates from 10% to 95%! Interestingly, scientists were first looking at the periwinkle for combating diabetes and stumbled across this vital use by accident.

The Papaver somniferum (pa-PAVER somni-FARE-um), or opium poppy, has had a big impact on humans when it comes to pain. Morphine was first isolated by German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner (ZARE-turner turn like arnie) in 1806. He spent nine years experimenting with it on himself, three dogs, three young boys, and a mouse. He noted the potential danger of the drug during this. Sertürner also gave it its name inspired by the Greek God of dreams, Morpheus.Another opiate from the same plant is codeine. A weaker variant of morphine, codeine was first isolated by French chemist Pierre Jean Robiquet in 1832. Then, looking to develop a non-addictive version of morphine, in 1874, English chemist Charles Wright instead created heroin, also known as diamorphine.

This is probably the most famous case of accidentally stumbling onto a medical marvel. In 1928, Scottish physician Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a vacation. He then examined his culture plates of Staphylococcus he had left out and realized one was open. Inside, a mold had gotten in and had amazingly stopped the spread of the bacteria. This mold was Penicillium rubens (penna-SILLY-um roo-bins). While mold has been used to treat infections for centuries, this remarkable observation led to one of the world’s first antibiotic medications with penicillin in 1942. Since then, an estimated 200 million lives at least have been saved thanks to this accidental discovery.