What medicines have recently been discovered in a rain forest? are people actually looking?

Question

you always hear dont tear down the rain forest...undisovered medicine is in there...so how true is this?

Answer 1

The Amazon Rainforest has long been a symbol of mystery and power, a sacred link between humans and nature. It is also the richest biological incubator on the planet. It supports millions of plant, animal and insect species - a virtual library of chemical invention. In these archives, drugs like quinine, muscle relaxants, steroids and cancer drugs are found. More importantly, are the new drugs still awaiting discovery - drugs for AIDS, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer's. Many secrets and untold treasures await discovery with the medicinal plants used by shamans, healers and the indigenous people of the Rainforest Tribes. So alluring are the mysteries of indigenous medical knowledge that over 100 pharmaceutical companies and even the US government are currently funding projects studying the indigenous plant knowledge and the specific plants used by native shamans and healers.

The tropical rainforest of Suriname (Surinam) is

among the most unspoiled in the world.

Suriname has a long - and rich tradition in the use of medicinal plants and herbs to cure a wide range of illnesses and diseases.

The indigenous people, the Amerindians and Maroons, have a history in this going back hundreds of years.

Their knowledge in the use and application of all the thousands of medicinal plants and herbs, existing deep in the jungle, is unequaled

rainforests.mongabay.com/1008.htm -

www.netsci.org/Science/Special/feature... -

library.thinkquest.org/04oct/01873/ama...