Tabriz University of Medical Sciences BioImpacts 2228-5652 1 4 2011 12 01 Antiviral Activity of Natural Products Extracted from Marine Organisms 203 211 10.5681/bi.2011.029 EN Bushra Uzair Zahra Mahmood Sobia Tabassum Journal Article 10.5681/bi.2011.029 2011 07 04 2011 08 25 Many epidemics have broken out over the centuries. Hundreds and thousands of humans have died over a disease. Available treatments for infectious diseases have always been limited. Some infections are more deadly than the others, especially viral pathogens. These pathogens have continuously resisted all kinds of medical treatment, due to a need for new treatments to be developed. Drugs are present in nature and are also synthesized in vitro and they help in combating diseases and restoring health. Synthesizing drugs is a hard and time consuming task, which requires a lot of man power and financial aid. However, the natural compounds are just lying around on the earth, may it be land or water. Over a thousand novel compounds isolated from marine organisms are used as antiviral agents. Others are being pharmacologically tested. Today, over forty antiviral compounds are present in the pharmacological market. Some of these compounds are undergoing clinical and pre-clinical stages. Marine compounds are paving the way for a new trend in modern medicine.