Ecology and bioprospecting

Abstract

Bioprospecting is the exploration of biodiversity for new resources of social and commercial value. It is carried out by a wide range of established industries such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and agriculture as well as a wide range of comparatively new ones such as aquaculture, bioremediation, biomining, biomimetic engineering and nanotechnology. The benefits of bioprospecting have emerged from such a wide range of organisms and environments worldwide that it is not possible to predict what species or habitats will be critical to society, or industry, in the future. The benefits include an unexpected variety of products that include chemicals, genes, metabolic pathways, structures, materials and behaviours. These may provide physical blueprints or inspiration for new designs. Criticism aimed at bioprospecting has been addressed, in part, by international treaties and legal agreements aimed at stopping biopiracy and many activities are now funded by agencies that require capacity-building and economic benefits in host countries. Thus, much contemporary bioprospecting has multiple goals, including the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable management of natural resources and economic development. Ecologists are involved in three vital ways: first, applying ecological principles to the discovery of new resources. In this context, natural history becomes a vast economic database. Second, carrying out field studies, most of them demographic, to help regulate the harvest of wild species. Third, emphasizing the profound importance of millions of mostly microscopic species to the global economy.

The Importance and Benefits of Species

“…In another development, blue mussels use adhesive and byssal threads to quickly attach themselves to surfaces [48]. The adhesive has been found to be about twice as strong as an industrial epoxy under ideal conditions, yet mussels accomplish this in saltwater [49]. This last point is significant and has materials scientists trying to understand, and mimic, the metal-polymer complexes involved because adhesives that work in liquid environments have many applications, particularly in surgical medicine [50].…”

“…The pursuit of compounds that could lead to breakthrough drugs features prominently in the development of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing in the Convention on Biological Diversity [82]. But drugs are just a small part of the many ways in which the medical field makes use of species and there are certainly other industries that utilize species for profit [49]. A famous example of the unexpected commercial value of a species is Thermus aquaticus, a bacterium isolated from hot springs in Yellowstone National Park and described in 1968 [83].…”

Animals as a Source of Drugs: Bioprospecting and Biodiversity Conservation

“…Thus, profits have accrued solely for the pharmaceutical companies, while indigenous peoples have received little or nothing in return (Finger and Schuler 2004;Laird 2002). The recent history of bioprospecting in Brazil reveals conflicts between bioprospectors and other stakeholders (Beattie et al 2011). In addition, legislation to protect traditional knowledge from inappropriate use by the private industry has been blamed for stifling systematic and ecological research (Antonelli and Rodriguez 2009).…”

Effectiveness of Marine Fungal Symbiont Isolated from Soft Coral Sinularia sp. from Panjang Island as Antifungal

“…Despite a gradual reduction in activities by the pharmaceutical industry in the field of natural compound research in the past 25 years, an average of two new natural compounds were approved as drugs per year during this period [9]. [10] mentioned marine fungi are prolific resources of natural products.…”