This award supports cooperative research on chemical studies of Chilean flora to be conducted by Maurice Shamma of Penn State University, Victor Fajardo of the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas and Alejandro Urzua of the University of Santiago, Chile. They will study certain steroids obtained from the sticky compounds present on the surface of the leaves of plants from several genera. These compounds may act as defense against herbivorous pests and will be investigated for possible anticancer potential. The facilities of both sides are complementary; the U.S. scientist will contribute expertise in the interpretation of complex NMR spectra and the Chileans will help elucidate the chemical structures through the use of their chromatographic equipment and UV and IR spectrometers. They also have facilities for plant extraction. These two scientists will spend time at Penn State to isolate the natural products from plants and obtain spectral data. This project is a good example of the fulfillment of the goals of the Science in Developing Countries program.
