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Currently, 121 prescription drugs currently sold
worldwide come from plant-derived sources. And while
25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from
rainforest ingredients, less than 1% of these
tropical trees and plants have been tested by
scientists.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified
3000 plants that are active against cancer cells.
70% of these plants are found in the rainforest.
Twenty-five percent of the active ingredients in
today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms
found only in the rainforest Vincristine, extracted
from the rainforest plant, Periwinkle, is one of the
world's most powerful anticancer drugs. It has
dramatically increased the survival rate for acute
childhood leukemia since its discovery. |
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In 1983, there were no U.S. pharmaceutical
manufacturers involved in research programs
to discover new drugs or cures from plants.
Today, over 100 pharmaceutical companies and
several branches of the US government,
including giants like Merck and The National
Cancer Institute, are engaged in plant
research projects for possible drugs and
cures for viruses, infections, cancer and
even AIDS. |
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The
Amazonian Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing
areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and the Eastern Andean
region of Ecuador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it
would be the ninth largest in the world.
 The Amazon
Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet"
because it provides the essential environmental world service
of continuously recyling carbon dioxide into oxygen. More than
20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon
Rainforest.
Canopies, the upper level of the tropical rain forests,
position their leaves so perfect that very little light
reaches the ground. Ninety percent of water pumped up to the
canopy level evaporates from the leaves. This creates a vacuum
from within that pulls the water to the top of the canopies,
which are hundreds of feet tall. Some leaves have shapes to
reduce evaporation. Rainforest plants are rich in secondary
metabolites, particularly alkaloids. Biochemists believe
alkaloids protect plants from disease and insect attacks.Many
alkaloids from higher plants have proven to be of medicinal
value and benefit.
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