Biology 11th Edition by Gerald Audesirk,Teresa Audesirk,Bruce Byers

تمرين 17

Prior to the development of synthetic drugs, more than 80% of all medicines were of plant origin. Even today, indigenous tribes in remote Amazonian rain forests can provide a plant product to treat virtually any ailment. Herbal medicine is also widely and successfully practiced in China. Most of these drugs are unknown to the Western world. But the forests from which much of this plant material is obtained are being converted to agriculture. We are in danger of losing many of these potential drugs before they can be evaluated by Western medicine. What steps can you suggest to preserve these natural resources while also allowing nations to direct their own economic development?