Marine bioprospecting is the developing and targeted, systematic search for components, bioactive compounds and genetic products in marine organisms with the intent of producing these commercially for the benefit of society. The marine organisms collected for analysis include microorganisms, algae, plants and animals, they may be collected from the marine environment, petroleum reservoirs. Areas of application for products from bioprospecting range from petroleum and energy exploitation, and processing of biomass to the development of new pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals or drugs in food and feed. Journal Article is sometimes called a Scientific Article, a Peer-Reviewed Article, or a Scholarly Research Article. Together, journal articles in a particular field are often referred to as The Literature. Because articles in scientific journals are specific, meticulously cited and peer-reviewed, journal databases are the best place to look for information on previous research on your species. Without a background in the field, journal articles may be hard to understand - however, you do not need to understand an entire article to be able to get valuable information from it.