Saving For The Future, Seed By Seed, Seed Banks Helping Protect Rare And Endangered Pla... - 0 views
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Many plants have been the source for medicine that cures disease. Take the rosy periwinkle, which is native to Madigascar. Before its properties were discovered, only 10 percent of children with leukemia lived. But from the plant, scientists created a compound that helped increase the survival rate. "With the compound, the rate has now gone up to 95 percent,” Raven says. “Who knows what else is out there in nature's pharmacy.”
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davido T on 24 Sep 07"nature's pharmacy"--the only reason to save species?? (well, the most marketable b/c most clearly communicatable anthro-benefit)
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"We will have 10 percent of the world’s seeds by 2010 and we would like to go on and have a quarter of the world’s species by 2020,” says Paul Smith, director of the Millennium Seed Bank Project.
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One in six of all wild plants are used for medicine. One in 10 are used for food, especially in developing countries.
