Transcript Chapter 3 Living Resources

Chapter 3
Living Resources
Section 4
Search for New Medicines
Notes 3-4
Plants and Medicines
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Plants have the ability to heal and
fight disease
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
Moss can be used on cuts or wounds to
heal
Bark of the willow tree was once used
to make aspirin
Results from the plants ability to
adapt to their environment
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Produce chemicals to protect them
Some can be used also to help us
Taxol
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Pacific yew tree is resistant to
disease and insects
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As scientist studied it to determine
why, they found crystals in its bark
Crystals are made from a chemical
called taxol
This protects the tree from disease and
insects
Taxol

This substance causes cancer cells
to stop dividing
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Usually cancer cells divide and spread
quickly
Taxol builds a cage around the cell to
prevent it from dividing
Now used to treat cancer patients
Stopped cancer from spreading
 Caused tumors to decrease in size
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Threatened Supply of Taxol
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It takes bark from 3 Pacific yew
trees to make enough taxol for one
cancer patient.
Scientists are concerned that the
Pacific yew tree is becoming
threatened
Taxol is a complex chemical
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It was not synthesized until 1996
Hopefully it will help save the Pacific
yew tree
Chemical Structure of Taxol
Biodiversity and Medicine
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Almost half of the medicines used
today have an origin in nature.
Not all species of plants and animals
have been found yet

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There may still be cures out there
American Medical Association asked
for protection of earth’s biodiversity
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Hopefully it will help save any cures yet
to be found
Homework
Section Review
P. 108
# 1-4