Page 311 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

selection of promising food resources from just one region victims. In Australia, a rare species of cork, Duboisia leich-
of the world—Central and South America. Plenty more exist hardtii, provides hyoscine, a compound that physicians use
elsewhere worldwide. to treat cancer, stomach disorders, and motion sickness. The
The babassu palm of the Amazon produces more vegeta- Pacific yew of North America’s Pacific Northwest produces a
ble oil than any other plant. The serendipity berry generates a compound that forms the basis for the anti-cancer drug taxol.
sweetener 3000 times sweeter than table sugar. Several spe- Even aspirin was derived from chemicals found in willows
cies of salt-tolerant grasses and trees are so hardy that farm- and in meadowsweet. Each year, pharmaceutical products
ers can irrigate them with saltwater to produce animal feed, a owing their origin to wild species generate up to $150 billion
vegetable oil substitute, and other products. in sales and save thousands of human lives.
For our existing crops, having genetic diversity available
in crop relatives and wild ancestors is enormously valuable
(pp. 270–271). In 1995, Turkey’s wheat crops received $50 WEIGhING ThE ISSUES
billion worth of disease resistance from wild wheat strains. BIOPROSPECTING IN COSTA RICA Bioprospectors working for
California’s barley crops annually receive $160 million in dis- pharmaceutical companies scour biodiversity-rich countries,
ease resistance benefits from Ethiopian strains of barley. In the searching for organisms that can provide new drugs, foods,
1970s a researcher discovered a maize species in the moun- medicines, or other valuable products. Many have been criti-
tains of Jalisco, Mexico, known as Zea diploperennis. This cized for “biopiracy”—harvesting indigenous species to cre-
maize is highly resistant to disease, and it is a perennial, able ate commercial products without compensating the country
to grow back year after year without being replanted. Yet we of origin. To make sure it would not lose the benefits of its
had almost lost this valuable plant; at the time of its discovery, own biodiversity, the nation of Costa Rica reached an agree-
its entire range was limited to a single 10-ha (25-acre) plot of ment with the Merck pharmaceutical company in 1991. The
land.
nonprofit National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica (INBio)
allowed Merck to evaluate a number of Costa Rica’s species
Organisms provide drugs and medicines for their commercial potential in return for $1.1 million, a small
royalty rate on any products developed, and training for Costa
People have made medicines from plants for centuries, and Rican scientists.
many of today’s pharmaceuticals are derived from chemical Do you think both sides win in this agreement? What if
compounds from wild plants (Table 11.4). The rosy periwinkle Merck discovers a compound that it turns into a multi-billion-
produces compounds that treat Hodgkin’s disease and a deadly dollar drug? Does this provide a good model for other coun-
form of leukemia. Had this plant from Madagascar become tries? For other companies?
extinct, these two fatal diseases would have claimed far more

TABLE 11.4 Natural Plant Sources of Pharmaceuticals
Pineapple Pacific yew
(Ananas comosus) (Taxus brevifolia)

Drug: Bromelain Drug: Taxol
Application: Controls tissue Application: Anticancer agent
inflammation (especially ovarian cancer)
Autumn crocus Velvet bean
(Colchicum autumnale) (Mucuna deeringiana)

Drug: L-Dopa
Drug: Colchicine Application: Parkinson's disease
Application: Anticancer agent suppressant
Yellow cinchona Common foxglove
(several species of Cinchona) (Digitalis purpurea)

Drug: Quinine Drug: Digitoxin
Application: Antimalarial agent Application: Cardiac stimulant

Shown are just a few of the many plants that provide chemical compounds of medical benefit. Adapted from Wilson, E.O., 1992. The diversity of life.
310 Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

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