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Article: Earthly Goods: Medicine-Hunting in the Rain Forest. (book reviews)
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- August 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The unique fecundity of the world's rain forests, resulting from a favorable combination of temperature and moisture, has spawned a profusion of life - plants and animals uniquely able to cultivate their existing habitat and poised to compete for any new niches. Under such conditions, these species have developed a vast range of natural biochemical weapons and defenses that promise major additions to our pharmacopoeia.
Those additions are desperately needed. Many standard treatments are rapidly losing their power over infectious agents that have evolved defenses against them, and new challenges such as AIDS are sending medical researchers to the rain forest in ...