Collection of source material thumb|right|Voucher deposition allows species identity to be re-evaluated if there are problems re-isolating an active constituent from a biological source. Prior to collecting biological material or traditional knowledge, the correct permissions must be obtained from the source country, land owner etc. Failure to do so can result in criminal proceedings and rejection of any subsequent patent applications. It is also important to collect biological material in adequate quantities, to have biological material formally identified, and to deposit a voucher specimen with a repository for long-term preservation and storage. This helps ensure any important discoveries are reproducible. Bioactivity and toxicity testing When testing extracts and isolated compounds for bioactivity and toxicity, the use of standard protocols (eg. CLSI, ISO, NIH, EURL ECVAM, OECD) is desirable because this improves test result accuracy and reproducibility. Also, if the source material is likely to contain known (previously discovered) active compounds (eg. streptomycin in the case of actinomycetes), then dereplication is necessary to exclude these extracts and compounds from the discovery pipeline as early as possible. In addition, it is important to consider solvent effects on the cells or cell lines being tested, to include reference compounds (ie. pure chemical compounds for which accurate bioactivity and toxicity data are available), to set limits on cell line passage number (eg. 10–20 passages), to include all the necessary positive and negative controls, and to be aware of assay limitations. These steps help ensure assay results are accurate, reproducible and interpreted correctly.
Collection of source material thumb|right|Voucher deposition allows species identity to be re-evaluated if there are problems re-isolating an active constituent from a biological source Prior to collecting biological material or traditional knowledge the correct permissions must be obtained from the source country land owner etc Failure to do so can result in criminal proceedings and rejection of any subsequent patent applications It is also important to collect biological material in adequate quantities to have biological material formally identified and to deposit a voucher specimen with a repository for long-term preservation and storage This helps ensure any important discoveries are reproducible Bioactivity and toxicity testing When testing extracts and isolated compounds for bioactivity and toxicity the use of standard protocols (eg CLSI ISO NIH EURL ECVAM OECD) is desirable because this improves test result accuracy and reproducibility Also if the source material is likely to contain known (previously discovered) active compounds (eg streptomycin in the case of actinomycetes) then dereplication is necessary to exclude these extracts and compounds from the discovery pipeline as early as possible In addition it is important to consider solvent effects on the cells or cell lines being tested to include reference compounds (ie pure chemical compounds for which accurate bioactivity and toxicity data are available) to set limits on cell line passage number (eg 10–20 passages) to include all the necessary positive and negative controls and to be aware of assay limitations These steps help ensure assay results are accurate reproducible and interpreted correctly