As The World’s Biodiversity Shrinks, Medicinal Innovation Stalls

The world’s biodiversity is on the downturn — since 1970, wildlife populations have plummeted 69% around the world . A 2023 study found that 34% of plants in the United States alone are at risk of extinction and 41% of ecosystems are at risk of wide-range collapse.

Invasive specials, habitat loss, and over-harvesting are attributed for the high rate of plant biodiversity loss. Warmer ground temperatures, deforestation, unpredictable rain seasons, and aggressive storms, all associated with impacts of global climate change, are also altering the ways in which crops and plants grow. Organisms within the ecosystem, including humans, are deeply impacted by the shifting changes in biodiversity.

“Biodiversity loss and the impact it has on plant phenology can impact an entire ecosystem,” Amelia Wolf, research scientist in Columbia University’s Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology department, told Columbia News . “Plants and the communities in which they grow are interconnected and critically dependent on each other.”

One way these communities are inextricably connected is through medicine and pharmaceuticals. Of the drugs considered “basic” and “necessary” by the World Health Organization (WHO), 11% originate from flowering plants and 25% of prescription drugs come from plant-derived ingredients . Life-saving drugs like common chemotherapy medicine Paclitaxel originate from yew tree bark, penicillin, and compounds found in fungi.

Climate change and biodiversity loss puts a halt on how medicinal innovation develops. Some estimates warn t he planet could be losing an important drug every two years due to biodiversity loss as extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times faster than previous years.

“Just at the time we need them most, we are at risk of losing many important species,” Dr. Cassandra Quave, associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University, said to The Guardian .

The Himalayan Yew tree, a major natural facet of chemotherapy, was deemed “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature . Unregulated and unsustainable sourcing of yew tree bark has led to over-harvesting and threatened the future of the plant in the wild.

With sustainable protocols, the rate of losing important plants could be slowed. Investing in synthesized variations and derivatives of natural materials could significantly reduce the rate of over-cultivation in nature. Experts point toward engaging with indigenous communities and their centuries-long knowledge of natural medicines — the World Health Organization has even formally recognized traditional and complementary medicine in its international health strategy, arguably as a result of the biodiversity crisis and surging costs of pharmaceuticals.The Department of State has aimed to conserve 30% of United States land and waterways by 2030.

Conservation efforts like seed banks and yeast cell factories are new technologies to further reduce the need for heavy reliance on single plant sources and over-cultivation that further damages ecosystems. New technologies and newly discovered species give opportunity to adapt the ways in which production and conservation coexist.

As thousands of new species of plants are discovered every year, science could be at a precipice where the future of human health maximizes on the gift of global biodiversity, instead of destroying it.

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