Cashing in on nature's pharmacy

Onaga, Lisa

doi:10.1093/embo-reports/kve077

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The Amazon as “lungs of the world” is imagined as a de-nationalized space largely because of the discursive stress on biomes and ecosystems (and consequently environmental problems) as transcending national boundaries and demanding “global” solutions that necessitate global governance. This imaginary both supports and parallels the de-nationalization of the Amazon as a pharmacopia, because the cures expected to originate from “mother nature’s pharmacy” (Onaga, 2001: 263) are both part of the ecological system claimed as a global commons and are supposed to aid the equally supranationally framed cause of global health. Goldman (1998: 4) wrote, “in the 1980s, when elite Northern scientists established that the Amazon is the ‘lungs of the world,’ they were directly challenging the rights of forest dwellers against the rights of metropolitan populations around the world who supposedly depend upon forest preservation for their daily dose of oxygen”.…”

Section: The Amazon As Pharmacopiamentioning

confidence: 75%

Amazonia as pharmacopia

Davidov

2013

Critique of Anthropology

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This article analyzes the commonly deployed imaginary of the Amazon as a pharmacopia – a cornucopia of ethnomedicinal cures unheard of in the West. Using several fictional narratives (two novels and a film) as a starting point, I explore how the Western imaginary of the Amazon as a pharmacopia is a discursive variation on the environmental imaginary of the Amazon as the “lungs of world” – a vulnerable entity of high import and in need of protection. Both the “lungs of the world” and the “pharmacopia” imaginaries construct the Amazon as a global commons. But I argue that while the “lungs of the world” narrative is conceptually anti-extractivist, as within it the Amazon’s value is attributed to its containment and intactness, which needs to be salvaged, the “pharmacopia” narrative legitimates certain contemporary forms of extraction in the Amazon, such as bioprospecting. Finally, I analyze the dislocations of indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge practices within these representational geographies, and connect my analysis to the experiences of an indigenous Kichwa community in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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Section: The Amazon As Pharmacopiamentioning

confidence: 75%

Amazonia as pharmacopia

Davidov

2013

Critique of Anthropology

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“…The use of these ions may be supported by the formation of a corrosion residue, through microbial scavenging activities (Barton, 2006). Cave microorganisms also have potential to produce unique antibiotics and cancer treatment drugs (Onaga, 2001). Minerals have profound effect on the production of antibiotics by microorganisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical and mineralogical analysis of Kashmir Cave (SMAST), Buner, Pakistan, and isolation and characterization of bacteria having antibacterial activity

Zada¹,

Naseem²,

Lee³

et al. 2016

JCKS

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Bacterial strains having the ability to inhibit the growth of other bacteria were isolated from soil samples collected from Kashmir Smast (smast is Pushto for cave), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study includes mineralogical and geochemical analyses of soil sample collected from the cave, so as to describe the habitat from which the microorganisms have been isolated. Total bacterial count of the soil sample was 5.25 3 10 4 CFU mL −1. Four bacterial isolates having activity against test organisms Micrococcus luteus, Klebsiella sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Staphylococcus aureus were screened out for further study. Two of the isolates were found to be Gram-positive and the other two Gram-negative. The four isolates showing antibacterial activity were identified as Serratia sp. KC1-MRL, Bacillus licheniformis KC2-MRL, Bacillus sp. KC3-MRL, and Stenotrophomonas sp. KC4-MRL on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Although all isolates showed antibacterial activity, only Bacillus licheniformis KC2-MRL was selected for further study due to its large zone of inhibition. Antibacterial activity of B. licheniformis KC2-MRL was optimum when grown in nutrient broth adjusted to pH 5 and after 24 hours of incubation at 35 uC. The extracted antibacterial compound was stable at pH 5-7 and 40 uC when incubated for 1 hour. The strain was found resistant against cefotaxime (ctx). Atomic-absorption analysis of the soil sample collected from the cave showed high concentrations of calcium (332.938 mg kg ) compared to the control soil collected outside the cave. FTIR spectrum of the concentrated protein showed similarity to bacitracin. The antibacterial compound showed activity against both Gram-negative and positive test strains. Mineralogy of Kashmir Smast is diverse and noteworthy. Different geochemical classes identified by X-ray diffraction were nitrates, oxides, phosphates, silicates, and sulfates. Weathered cave limestone contributes notably to the formation of these minerals or compounds. FTIR spectroscopic analysis helped to identify minerals such as quartz, clinochlore, vermiculite, illite, calcite, and biotite.

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“…technology transfer and capacity-building) incurred by pharmaceutical companies is widely recognised to be far more important than the financial benefits from bioprospecting activities obtained by BS, in particular the local BS in the source country (Rosenthal et al 1999;Ten Kate and Laird 2000;Onaga 2001). By collaborating with international pharmaceutical industries, these BS can enhance their scientific database and biotechnology in sample screening via a set of non-monetary benefit-sharing terms in the contract, including technology transfer, internal personnel training, capacity-building, and sharing of research results and biological databases.…”

Section: 2drug Discoverymentioning

confidence: 99%

An Economic Model for Bioprospecting Contracts

2007

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Cashing in on nature's pharmacy

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Amazonia as pharmacopia

Amazonia as pharmacopia

Geochemical and mineralogical analysis of Kashmir Cave (SMAST), Buner, Pakistan, and isolation and characterization of bacteria having antibacterial activity

An Economic Model for Bioprospecting Contracts

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