Latin America International Cooperative Biodiversity Group Essay

Mission and Background The Latin American International Cooperative Biodiversity Group program (LA ICBG) was established to study semi-arid region biodiversity in Meso and South America in the hopes of discovering natural products suitable for pharmaceutical and pesticide development. It is the first ever large-scale drug discovery study of dryland biodiversity to be undertaken following the International Convention of Biodiversity. Initial findings from the study of semi-arid plants demonstrate potentials for medicines that would target infectious disease and cardiovascular and central nervous system disorders to name a few. However, of equal importance is the project's ability to foster and encourage conservation and sustainable economic development, transforming the concept of biodiversity from a resource to be reaped, into an asset to be developed and protected. The project will also be the first to describe and establish a database of hundreds, even thousands, of dryland plant and endophytic microbe s pecies never before studied or recorded. The activities of the project will also be used as teaching vehicles for college students of all levels, including undergraduate, graduate, and post-doc students. Although pharmaceutical or agrochemical leads may not manifest themselves, many well trained and experienced scientists as well as large quantities of data about dryland biodiversity will certainly be valuable products of the LA ICBG's efforts. Collection Several countries are involved in the collection of specimens and data for the ICBG project, including Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. These countries were chosen because each has large sectors of arid to semi-arid climate zones with a diversity of life unique to those areas.... ...uding relevant background information, called the Flora of Chile web database (see links). Currently, the database is composed of pictures submitted by Prof. Gloria Montenegro of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Prof. Montenegro has assembled a collection of 200 photographs detailing the native Chilean plants in various stages of growth during a range of seasons. Dr. Barbara Timmerman co-edited a book with Prof. Montenegro entitled Chile Nuestra Flora Util, (), which is a comprehensive and extremely well illustrated guide to the native medicinal plants of all thirteen regions of Chile. Works Cited: Rouhi, A. Maureen. Seeking Drugs in Natural Products. Chemical and Engineering News. April 7, 1997. (pp. 14-29). Timmerman, Barbara N, et al. The Latin American ICBG: The First Five Years. Pharmaceutical Biology. Vol. 37. 1999. (pp. 35-54). references