Biodiversity and drugs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biodiversity plays vital roles in maintaining human health.
Nutural products have been recognized as medicines for a long time. More than 60% of the world population relies almost entirely on the plant medicine for primary health care.[1]
About 119 pure chemical are extracted from less than 90 species of higher plants and used as medicines throughout the world, for example,Caffeine,Methyl Salicylate and Quinine.[2]
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[edit] Antibiotics
Streptomycin, neomycin, and erythromycin are derived from tropical soil fungi.
[edit] Plant Drugs
Only a handful of plants species have been exhaustively studied for their potential value as source of drugs. It is possible that some plant species may be a source of drugs against high blood pressure, AIDS or heart troubles.
In China, Japan, India and Germany, there is a great deal of interest in and support for the search for new drugs from higher plants.[2]
[edit] Rosy periwinkle
The rosy periwinkle, Catharanthus roseus is a native Malagasy plant used as a folk medicine for treating diabetes. Research work isolated two products(Vinblastine and vincristine) from this plant which can treat childhood leukaemias. Survival rates from childhood leukaemias (such as Hodgkin's disease) have dramatically increased as a result of these drugs, which are much more efficacious than synthetic equivalents
[edit] Sweet wormwood
Each species carries unique genetic material in its DNA and in its chemical factory responding to these genetic instructions. For example, in the valleys of central China, a fernlike endangered weed called sweet wormwood grows, that is the only source of artemisinin, a drug that is nearly 100 percent effective against malaria . If this plant were lost to extinction, then the ability to control malaria, even today a potent killer, would diminish.
[edit] Reference
- ^ Kevin J. Gaston & John I. Spicer. 2004. Biodiversity: an introduction, Blackwell Publishing. 2nd Ed. ISBN 1-4051-1857-1(pbk.)
- ^ a b N.R. Farnsworth. Screening Plants for New Medicine. IN: E.O Wilson, editor. 1988. Biodiversity, Natrional Academy. ISBN 0-309-03783-2(pbk.)
