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Medicinal Plants >
News > Extinction of medicinal plants threatens drug discovery
Extinction of medicinal plants threatens drug discovery
GLOBAL
18th June 2008
The importance of plants in the search for cancer drugs, and the threat to these plants as highlighted by BGCI, has been discussed recently in an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Volume 100, Issue 12). For an extract of the article click here.Current cancer therapeutics include paclitaxel, isolated from the Pacific yew; camptothecin, derived from the Chinese 'happy tree' (Camptotheca acuminata); combretastatin, derived from the South African bush willow; and etoposide from Podophyllum spp., found in the eastern US and Himalayas.
Though the search for anti-cancer drugs from natural products has a long history, for example the discovery of the vinka alkaloids from Catharanthus roseus in the 1950s, the development of new biotechnological methods during the 1990s meant that the interest in natural product research waned, since exploratory screening is both time-consuming and expensive. Recently however, attention is turning back to natural products as drug sources, since they have been so successful in the past. Modern medcine depends on biological materials as an incomparable source of molecular diversity. Against this backdrop, almost half the world's plant species may be threatened with extinction; cures as yet undiscovered may exist in plants as yet undescribed - and which may never be described. Promising drug sources are also found in the sea - sponges, sea squirts and algae for example, are all sources of drugs undergoing clinical studies. Plants are the structural anchors of the ecosystems in which these organisms live. The rapid loss of plant life has far-reaching consequences, and their loss will adversly affect future cancer drug discovery. Conserving Threatened Medicinal Plant SpeciesBGCI is working to link plant conservation with improvements in human well-being through a new project for threatened medicinal species to help ensure on-going access to vital plant resources. You can support our project and help make a difference to community health and plant conservation. 
Securing Plant DiversityAs the world’s largest plant conservation network, BGCI is strategically placed to lead global efforts to reverse the impending extinction crisis faced by the world’s plant diversity. Our efforts are focused on securing a future for threatened plant species. 
Plants for Life: Medicinal Plants Under ThreatBGCI has published the findings of a year-long investigation into the state of medicinal plants around the world. Help to Combat the Loss of Plant Diversity |
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