Tomás Monzón April 14, 2009Period 2 Biology

BiopiracyA Bioethical Issue

Bioethics is referred to as “the philosophical study of the ethical controversies brought about by advances in biology and medicine. In a nutshell, it is the study of biological processes or events that, despite being of a purely scientific nature, end up affecting the ordinary lives of humans or affecting society as a whole in a certain way.

There are hundreds of bioethical issues that exist in our world today. Some, such as abortion, stem cell research, and cloning receive more attention than others, but they are all issues that impact society one way or another. One of the issues that, perhaps, is not heard about very much, is biopiracy, also known as bioprospecting, a less pejorative term used by people on the accepting side of the issue. Biopiracy, or bioprospecting, is, in its most summarized form, the “commercialization of traditional medicines.” For a long time, we’ve been told stories about indigenous groups that used flowers and plants as healing devices, as medicine. It can be said, thus, that these indigenous groups, these peoples were the ones who discovered the uses of that flower or plant as a healing tool for humans. In biopiracy, these plants are taken and patented as official medicines, without credit being given to these indigenous groups that first discovered their use as medicine.

The most famous case is the Rosy Periwinkle case. The Rosy Periwinkle, known by the botanical name Cathrarantus roseus (earlier, it was known as the Vinca rosea) is a herb native to the island of Madagascar. It is a branched perennial shrub, that can reach two and a half feet in height when it is fully mature. It has oval shaped leaves, with white or pinkish flowers each featuring five lobed petals.

In 1954, the American firm, Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, extracted tow alkaloids, called vinblastine and vincristine, from the Rosy Periwinkle, which had cancer fighting properties. Traditionally, the Periwinkle had been as an anti-diabetic, but when its cancer-fighting abilities were discovered, Eli Lilly, whom had isolated the cancer-fighting abilities of the herb, took credit for it, and patented drugs made from these. Eli Lilly went on to make millions of dollars with the drugs, but the people of Madagascar never received any compensation for their

knowledge of the herb’s healing abilities.

Figure 1 Colonel Eli Lilly, one of the founders of the Eli Lilly

firm, in the 1800s.

Figure 2 The Rosy Periwinkle.

Tomás Monzón April 14, 2009Period 2 Biology

The Neem tree case of 1995 is another example - the Neem tree, native to India, has long been known by the Indian people as a tree with healing powers. In 1995, the US Department of Agriculture received a patent to extract an anti-fungal agent from the tree; however, the patent was described by the Indian press as one on the tree itself, and ensuing public outcry eventually resulted in the overturning of the patent in 1995.

The sale of these drugs continues today, and Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, still receives no profit. Some say that biopiracy is a thing of the past, but this, and other examples, such as the Neem tree case of 1995 in Mexico, show that biopiracy is a continuing bioethical issue.