Medicines from Nature

School Library Journal

Gr 7 UpA fascinating journey through the endless search for new and more effective medications. Despite enormous advances in the 20th century, drug-resistant, disease-causing agents and diseases such as AIDS have prompted the rise of researchers known as ethnobotanists. Thomas describes their activities with an air of urgency. As plant and animal species are destroyed by human development and traditional healers in remote regions die without passing on their knowledge, the possibility of discovering new medicines decreases. The author explores how likely sources of medicines and treatments are identified, how they are tested for efficacy against specific diseases, and differences that exist between natural and synthetic drugs. While many books (particularly those on rain forests) stress the importance of plants as possible sources of new medicines, few have delved into the many marine and other nontropical animals discussed here. This book's real strength, however, is its coverage of the future of pharmaceutical development. It describes activities of the National Cancer Institute's National Products Repository, international biodiversity preservation efforts, and unique cooperative pharmaceutical companies. Perhaps the most promising and most chilling line of endeavor is the development of transgenic animals that contain some human DNA. Genetic scientists are beginning to create cows, sheep, and goats that can produce milk containing human blood protein and other proteins useful in treating human clotting disorders. A few full-color photographs break up long stretches of text. A detailed and far-reaching overview.Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY