The American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) is a scientific society that promotes the growth and development of

pharmacognosy Pharmacognosy is the study of medicinal plants and other natural substances as sources of drugs. The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical, and biological properties of drug ...

through presentation of research achievements and publication of meritorious research. ASP was founded in 1959 as an outgrowth of the Plant Science Seminar established in 1923. ASP has over 1,100 active and associate members. Approximately 40 percent of the active members reside outside the U.S. and Canada in more than 60 countries. Pharmacognosy includes the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances, or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources. Research problems in pharmacognosy include studies in the areas of

phytochemistry Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants. Phytochemists strive to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolites found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and ...

, microbial chemistry,

biosynthesis Biosynthesis is a multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed process where substrates are converted into more complex products in living organisms. In biosynthesis, simple compounds are modified, converted into other compounds, or joined to form macromolecules. ...

biotransformation Biotransformation is the biochemical modification of one chemical compound or a mixture of chemical compounds. Biotransformations can be conducted with whole cells, their lysates, or purified enzymes. Increasingly, biotransformations are effected w ...

chemotaxonomy Webster's Dictionary, Merriam-Webster defines ''chemotaxonomy'' as the method of biology, biological classification based on similarities and dissimilarity in the structure of certain chemical compound, compounds among the organisms being classifi ...

and other biological and chemical sciences. ASP publishes the quarterly ''ASP Newsletter'' and co-publishes the ''

Journal of Natural Products The ''Journal of Natural Products'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of research on the chemistry and/or biochemistry of naturally occurring compounds. It is co-published by the American Society of Pharmacognosy ...

'' with the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

. An ASP Fellow,

Satoshi Ōmura is a Japanese biochemist. He is known for the discovery and development of hundreds of pharmaceuticals originally occurring in microorganisms. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell fo ...

, was awarded the 2015

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

along with two other researchers for their work in researching therapies for roundworm parasite and malaria infections. Ōmura is also a past recipient of the ASP Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award (2013) for his work on novel bacterial strains, such as ''

Streptomyces avermitilis ''Streptomyces avermitilis'' is a species of bacteria in the genus ''Streptomyces''. This bacterium was discovered by Satoshi Ōmura in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The first complete genome sequence of ''S. avermitilis'' was completed in 2003. T ...

'', and their bioactive constituents.

References

External links

''Journal of Natural Products'' website
Pharmaceuticals policy Pharmacy organizations in the United States Pharmacognosy {{pharm-stub

See also

References

External links