Natural product drug discovery, for years the cornerstone of pharmaceutical research and development has fallen out of favor.  Many large companies have either eliminated or greatly de-emphasized their work with natural products.  Smaller companies that have been founded on the basis of discovering new natural products have either yet to bear fruit or have already exited the scene.  It has been suggested that the law of diminishing returns has set in and what has been discovered through natural product discovery has basically already been found.  In addition, antimicrobial research, which was (and is) closely linked to natural products, has also fallen upon hard times.  Ironically the technology behind the discovery and development of natural products has continue to progress and from a technical point of view there has never been a time to be engaged in this research.  Indeed natural products have not run their course but remain a fertile field for the discovery of the drugs of tomorrow.