Plants and Empire

Plants and Empire
Author: Londa Schiebinger
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0674043278

Plants seldom figure in the grand narratives of war, peace, or even everyday life yet they are often at the center of high intrigue. In the eighteenth century, epic scientific voyages were sponsored by European imperial powers to explore the natural riches of the New World, and uncover the botanical secrets of its people. Bioprospectors brought back medicines, luxuries, and staples for their king and country. Risking their lives to discover exotic plants, these daredevil explorers joined with their sponsors to create a global culture of botany. But some secrets were unearthed only to be lost again. In this moving account of the abuses of indigenous Caribbean people and African slaves, Schiebinger describes how slave women brewed the "peacock flower" into an abortifacient, to ensure that they would bear no children into oppression. Yet, impeded by trade winds of prevailing opinion, knowledge of West Indian abortifacients never flowed into Europe. A rich history of discovery and loss, Plants and Empire explores the movement, triumph, and extinction of knowledge in the course of encounters between Europeans and the Caribbean populations.

Bioprospecting

Bioprospecting
Author: Russell Paterson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2016-12-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319479350

This book considers all aspects of bioprospecting in 14 succinct chapters and a forward by David Hawksworth. The organisms addressed include plants, insects, fungi, bacteria and phages. Bioprospecting has never been more relevant and is of renewed interest, because of the extremely worrying rise in novel, resistant pathogenic microorganisms. The practices in pharmaceutical companies have failed to deliver novel antibiotics to control these infections. We need to look for new sources of drugs from the environment on a massive scale as drug discovery is “too important to fail”. Furthermore, the field can add great value to ecosystems in terms of economics, while providing additional reasons for maintaining associated services, such as food provision, benign climate, effective nutrient cycling and cultural practices. Bioprospecting provides another reason why climate change must be reduced in order to preserve relevant environments. Previous bioprospecting projects should be re-visited and established biodiversity centres have a major role. Many different ecosystems exist which contain unique organisms with the potential to supply novel antibiotics, enzymes, food, and cosmetics, or they may simply have aesthetic value. The book stresses the difficulties in obtaining successful products and yet describes why natural products should be investigated over combinatorial chemistry. Personal experience of bioprospecting projects are given significance. Issues such as how to share the benefits equitably with local communities are described and why pharmaceutical companies can be reluctant to be involved. Legal issues are discussed. Finally, there has never been a better time for a new book on bioprospecting, because of the need to preserve ecosystems, and from the emergence of resistant pathogenic microorganisms.

When Nature Goes Public

When Nature Goes Public
Author: Cori Hayden
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2003-11-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0691095574

Bioprospecting--the exchange of plants for corporate promises of royalties or community development assistance--has been lauded as a way to develop new medicines while offering southern nations and indigenous communities an incentive to preserve their rich biodiversity. But can pharmaceutical profits really advance conservation and indigenous rights? How much should companies pay and to whom? Who stands to gain and lose? The first anthropological study of the practices mobilized in the name and in the shadow of bioprospecting, this book takes us into the unexpected sites where Mexican scientists and American companies venture looking for medicinal plants and local knowledge. Cori Hayden tracks bioprospecting's contentious new promise--and the contradictory activities generated in its name. Focusing on a contract involving Mexico's National Autonomous University, Hayden examines the practices through which researchers, plant vendors, rural collectors, indigenous cooperatives, and other actors put prospecting to work. By paying unique attention to scientific research, she provides a key to understanding which people and plants are included in the promise of "selling biodiversity to save it"--and which are not. And she considers the consequences of linking scientific research and rural "enfranchisement" to the logics of intellectual property. Roving across UN protocols, botanical collecting histories, Mexican nationalist agendas, neoliberal property regimes, and North-South relations, When Nature Goes Public charts the myriad, emergent publics that drive and contest the global market in biodiversity and its futures.

Bioprospecting of Microbial Diversity

Bioprospecting of Microbial Diversity
Author: Pradeep Verma
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 566
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0323885756

Bioprospecting of Microbial Diversity: Challenges and Applications in Biochemical Industry, Agriculture and Environment Protection gives a detailed insight into the utilization of microorganisms or microorganism-based bioactive compounds for the development of sustainable approaches, covering recent advances and challenges in the production and recovery of bioactive compounds such as enzymes, biopesticides, biofertilizers, biosensors, therapeutics, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. The challenges associated with the different approaches of microbial bioprospecting along with possible solutions to overcome these limitations are addressed. Further, the application of microbe-based products in the area of environmental pollution control and developing greener technologies are discussed. Providing valuable insight into the basics of microbial prospecting, the book covers established knowledge as well as genomic-based technological advancements to offer a better understanding of its application to various industries, promoting the commercialization of microbial-derived bioactive compounds and their application in biochemical industries, agriculture, and environmental protection studies. - Describes the advanced techniques available for microbial bioprospecting for large-scale industrial production of bioactive compounds - Presents recent advances and challenges for the application of microbe-based products in agriculture and environment pollution control - Provides knowledge of microbial production of bioenergy and high-value compounds such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals

Bioprospecting of Plant Biodiversity for Industrial Molecules

Bioprospecting of Plant Biodiversity for Industrial Molecules
Author: Santosh Kumar Upadhyay
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 111971723X

BIOPROSPECTING OF PLANT BIODIVERSITY FOR INDUSTRIAL MOLECULES A comprehensive collection of recent translational research on bioresource utilization and ecological sustainability Bioprospecting of Plant Biodiversity for Industrial Molecules provides an up-to-date overview of the ongoing search for biodiverse organic compounds for use in pharmaceuticals, bioceuticals, agriculture, and other commercial applications. Bringing together work from a panel of international contributors, this comprehensive monograph covers natural compounds of plants, endophyte enzymes and their applications in industry, plant bioprospecting in cosmetics, marine bioprospecting of seaweeds, and more. Providing global perspectives on bioprospecting of plant biodiversity, the authors present research on enzymes, mineral micro-nutrients, biopesticides, algal biomass, and other bioactive molecules. In-depth chapters assess the health impacts and ecological sustainability of the various biomolecules and identify existing and possible applications ranging from ecological restoration to production of essential oils and cosmetics. Other topics include, bio-energy crops as alternative fuel resources, the role of plants in phytoremediation of industrial waste, and the industrial applications of endophyte enzymes. This comprehensive resource: Includes a through introduction to plant biodiversity and bioprospecting Will further the knowledge of application of different plants and improve research investigation techniques. Summarizes novel approaches for researchers in food science, microbiology, biochemistry, and biotechnology Bioprospecting of Plant Biodiversity for Industrial Molecules is an indispensable compendium of biological research for scientists, researchers, graduate and postgraduate students, and academics in the areas of microbiology, food biotechnology, industrial microbiology, plant biotechnology, and microbial biotechnology.

Bioprospecting of Microorganism-Based Industrial Molecules

Bioprospecting of Microorganism-Based Industrial Molecules
Author: Sudhir P. Singh
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2021-12-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119717248

Discover a comprehensive and current overview of microbial bioprospecting written by leading voices in the field In Bioprospecting of Microorganism-Based Industrial Molecules, distinguished researchers and authors Sudhir P. Singh and Santosh Kumar Upadhyay deliver global perspectives of bioprospecting of biodiversity. The book covers diverse aspects of bioprospecting of microorganisms demonstrating biomass value of nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and bioenergetic importance. The authors present an amalgamation of translational research on bioresource utilization and ecological sustainability that will further the reader’s knowledge of the applications of different microbial diversity and reveal new avenues of research investigation. Readers will also benefit from: A thorough introduction to microbial biodiversity and bioprospecting An exploration of anti-ageing and skin lightening microbial products and microbial production of anti-cancerous biomolecules A treatment of UV protective compounds from algal biodiversity and polysaccharides from marine microalgal sources Discussions of microbial sources of insect toxic proteins and the role of microbes in bio-surfactants production Perfect for academics, scientists, researchers, graduate and post-graduate students working and studying in the areas of microbiology, food biotechnology, industrial microbiology, plant biotechnology, and microbial biotechnology, Bioprospecting of Microorganism-Based Industrial Molecules is an indispensable guide for anyone looking for a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Microbial Diversity and Bioprospecting

Microbial Diversity and Bioprospecting
Author: Alan T. Bull
Publisher:
Total Pages: 532
Release: 2004
Genre: Science
ISBN:

Presents the diverse and complex sets of technology, data, knowledge, ideas, and objectives into an integrated and holistic approach to bioprospecting. * Explores the primacy of natural products for biotechnology, emphasizing the extraordinary resource that microbial diversity presents and how and where that resource, and the exploitable properties that it contains, can be found. * Demonstrates the need for modern microbiologists to have an integrated perspective of science in order to address the big questions in microbiology. * Serves as a reference for instructors and researchers in environmental microbiology, biotechnology, and microbial diversity as well as applied biologists.

Contested Properties

Contested Properties
Author: Britta Rutert
Publisher: Transcript Verlag, Roswitha Gost, Sigrid Nokel u. Dr. Karin Werner
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN: 9783837647945

This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of bioprospecting in post-apartheid South Africa. The picture presented here contributes to the widely discussed yet so far unresolved question of how to appropriately share benefits, and how to protect indigenous knowledge in this field.

Bacilli in Agrobiotechnology

Bacilli in Agrobiotechnology
Author: M. Tofazzal Islam
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2022-02-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030854655

The third volume of the series ‘Bacilli and Agrobiotechnology’ is comprised of 25 chapters that bring a unique perspective to the readers about Bacillus-mediated biotic and abiotic plant stress tolerance, bioremediation and bioprospecting. These chapters are prepared by the leading scientists of global repute. The negative impacts of agrochemicals such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides on human health and environment are paramount. Bacillus and allied genera of beneficial plant-associated microbes are presenting beacon of hope to the farmers, plant scientists and stewards of environment. Several chapters of this volume focus on the induction of various signaling pathways in plants by Bacillus spp. to alleviate biotic and abiotic stresses impacted by global climate change Agricultural lands contaminated with heavy metals affect the ecological food chain starting from crop cultivation. How the toxic effects of trace metals originating from industrial effluents and agrochemicals can be remediated? This book addresses how to overcome these issues by applying elite strains of Bacillus. Bioprospecting is a systematic and organized search for conversion of bioresources to industrially important products by utilizing microbe-derived metabolites. This volume is enriched by including the bioprospecting aspects mediated by Bacillus spp. with novel insights.

Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North-East India

Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North-East India
Author: Jubilee Purkayastha
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2016-08-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9811006202

This work is a comprehensive information on the indigenous bioresources of North Eastern India with the scope of bioprospecting for discovery and commercialization of new sources and products and long-term ecological balance. The exploration, conservation and sustainable utilization of bioresources of world’s Megabiodiversity Hotspots are undeniable. North Eastern India is a recognised biodiversity hot spot where the evolutionary forces are at its optimum, making this region as centre of origin for many species. Although little bit exploratory studies have been conducted in this part of the globe but a scientific exploitation of the bioresources is almost lacking. Unscientific exploitation and overexploitation without proper knowledge of the bioresources may lead to imbalanced ecosystem of this mega diversity region. At the same time, very less exploration and exploitation will hamper biodiversity based development. Today, unscientific dramatic changes are underway in this region. Human activities are changing, degrading and destroying the bioresources in an unplanned manner. Scientific bioprospecting of the bioresources will boost the economy while ensuring conservation. This book offers comprehensive information about various levels of bioprospecting of the gene pool of this Indo-Burma Mega Biodiversity Hot Spot, the North East India, which is endowed with huge biodiversity potential for exploration and exploitation for the benefit of humankind. Also, this book highlights the less and merely explored part of the indigenous biodiversity of North East India with explanation towards their better sustainable exploitation for benefit of the people, economy and environment. The novelty of the book lies in expert coverage of the bioresources of this mega-diverse region including plants, microbes, insects etc. with provisions for their sustainable scientific utilization. This book portrays North East India as a melting pot of bioresources which are little explored and also those resources which are still to be explored. The book mainly highlights the bioprospecting approaches for North East Indian bioresources, and thus, it make itself a unique one in filling the knowledge gap that is there regarding the bioprospecting of the biodiversity of this special region on the earth. The book concludes by the ecotourism potential of this region. The target audiences for this book include biodiversity economists who are working on technology and bioresource management issues, and especially on biotechnology and biodiversity, development economists addressing the issues of bioresources in developing countries. These people may be in academia, in government, in non-governmental organizations and in private companies. The other target audiences group is policy scholars in government/public sectors who are interested in issues of biotechnology, IPRs, and biodiversity. In addition, scholars/experts in both development studies and resource management studies form another group of target audiences. Also, the book will be useful for the interaction between developed and developing nations regarding the issues of biodiversity and bioprospecting, as North Eastern India is the hub of Biodiversity.