THE HEADLINES were arresting. “Improbable that company bought stolen forest item; cases quashed,” said a leading newspaper in Mumbai. “Cancer drug camptothecin not forest produce—Bombay High Court quashes cases against pharma company after 16 years,” proclaimed a well-known legal website in early January. Other publications had similar reports exonerating Fresenius Kabi Oncology, the Indian offshoot of German multinational Fresenius Kabi, of any wrongdoing in the purchase of camptothecin, which is used to make cancer drugs. The case is actually 18 years old—it was initiated in 2005—and illustrates why India’s rich biodiversity is depleting ever faster.
This story starts with a moderate-sized tree, Mappia foetida, known locally known as narkya or amruta, which is found in the Western Ghats. It grows to a height of 4-10 metres and is characterised by a fetid smell. Once, it was found abundantly, but today, narkya is a threatened species because it is an important medicinal plant, much in demand for its anti-cancer properties. The alkaloid camptothecin (CPT), extracted from the wood chips of the trees, is an essential component of chemotherapy and narkya is said to be the most promising source for large-scale production of cpt.
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin January 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Down To Earth dergisinin January 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
INVISIBLE THREAT
Significant presence of microplastics in Puducherry’s agricultural soil raises concerns for soil and crop health
Feeding off each other
VEGETARIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA AND THE WEST GREW WITH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND VALIDATION
India's unhealthy patent amendments
Despite strong pleas, the Modi regime has changed the rules to impose a cost on those who challenge faulty patents
URBAN DISCOMFORT
Poorly planned, heat-trapping infrastructure, along with dwindling natural spaces, turn up the temperatures in major Indian cities
BLAZING SUN IS ON
Rising temperatures are testing the limits of human tolerance to heat. With their predominantly built-up landscape, urban areas offer no respite. A study by the Centre for Science and Environment on the morphology and heat patterns of nine Indian cities over the past decade shows how these urban centres are turning into heat islands with a potentially serious impact on human health. An analysis by Rajneesh Sareen, Mitashi Singh and Nimish Gupta, with Shagun in Haryana and Kiran Pandey
"H5N1 may be more severe than COVID-19"
In early April, the US confirmed the first case of avian influenza in livestock, along with cow-to-human transmission of the virus disease.
A PSYCHEDELIC HIGH
Driven by surge in global trials and low success rate of current medications in treating mental health problems, researchers call for home-grown clinical trials of psychedelic drugs
Locked out
Two years after becoming the only state to be excluded from the Centre's ruralemployment guarantee scheme, villages in West Bengal grapple with distress migration and debt traps
'Protection from climate change part of right to life'
The Supreme Court of India, on April 5, recognised that citizens have a right to be free from the adverse effects of climate change, saying it is intertwined with the fundamental rights to life and equality. Here are the key arguments articulated by the three-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in their judgement
Weaving dreams
Tribal communities in West Bengal slowly embrace traditional weaving to ensure sustainable livelihood
