THAILAND: Scientists Race to Find Microspecies Useful for Medicine

• by Nantiya Tangwisutijit* - IPS/IFEJ (bangkok)
• Wednesday, June 09, 2010
• Inter Press Service

A microbiologist with the Bioresources Technology Unit of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Jariya knows that the hours she spends wading through Thailand’s coastal areas may result in discoveries that could one day help battle illnesses like heart disease, cancer, or osteoporosis.

Jariya trawls the waters for fungi that may harbour bioactive compounds that could be used for medical treatments. She says that the unique ecology of mangroves, with their brackish water rising and falling twice daily, represents a particularly hostile environment for fungi, making their resilience especially attractive to pharmaceutical companies.

She warns, though: 'We will never know which ones we might be losing as the seas warm and storm patterns shift, (taking) the benefits along with them. Yes, there are big changes taking place out there that we need to address, but the microscopic ones need attention too.'

Indeed, while much of the world now considers the declining ice habitat of polar bears as the main harbinger of ecological losses from advancing climate change, Thai scientists have been working in relative obscurity as they race against time to document microspecies in aquatic ecosystems.

Jariya says microorganisms represent one of the largest segments of the planet’s biological inventory. But she says that only about 10 percent of the world’s estimated 1.5 million microorganisms have been identified so far, and she fears that many may be disappearing before their compounds are known.

'Thailand is critical because about 10 percent of the world’s microorganisms and fungi can be found in here,' she says. Of the 549 high marine fungi species known to exist in the world, 180 are found in this South-east Asian country. Forty of these are new species that Jariya’s marine fungi unit has discovered over the past decade. More than 60 years ago, penicillin introduced the world to fungi’s value to medicine. But it has only been during the past 15 years that researchers have been more aggressive in combing the planet for new fungi and bacteria that can advance medical treatments. So far, 15 BIOTEC researchers probing marine, fresh water and forest ecosystems have identified 2,500 new microorganisms and 70 new bioactive compounds with new biochemical structures. These are now in the laboratories of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, where they are undergoing further screening to identify substances that may be effective in treating diseases.

Novartis came to Thailand in 2005 to partner with Jariya and other BIOTEC researchers in the quest for new microorganisms from which natural compounds to use in medicines might be found. According to BIOTEC about 20 percent of the microorganisms now being studied by Novartis come from Thailand. This is a development that has some Thai experts wary, however. For instance, pharmacologist and herbal medicine expert Supaporn Pitiporn of the Abhaibhubejhr Hospital in the eastern province of Prachin Buri points out that while Jariya’s work is critical, Thailand must keep close tabs on the bioactive compounds discovered within its borders. 'The benefits of fungi in particular are invaluable, used in many traditional healings, including detoxification, and as nutrient supplements,' says Supaporn, who turned her hospital’s herbal products into national best- selling healthcare products.

'However,' she says, 'the government has been a pretty poor protector of the intellectual property rights, and we’re seeing these treatments being stolen, marketed, and generating profit for mainstream pharmaceutical interest.' Traditional Thai healers acknowledge the efficacy of microorganisms in mushrooms to treat several diseases. The Reishi mushroom, for example, is used to delay tumour growth, as well as to stimulate the immune system. The Boletus mushroom, meanwhile, is recommended for those with tuberculosis.

Proteolytic bacteria from Thai traditional fermented foodstuff have also been found to have allergenic reducing potentials to wheat and milk allergens.

Yet while the potential loss of intellectual rights over Thailand’s microorganisms is worrisome, Thai researchers also say that it is equally important that people realise that even the tiniest of species can be a player in climate change mitigation.

Microorganisms like algae are already being scrutinised as potential sources for sustainable energy, while even the dangerous E. coli bacteria that cause most cases of food poisoning may soon be transformed into biological factories to make biofuels.

'We’re just now beginning to really explore what microorganism can offer us,' says Supaporn, 'so efforts to protect the ecosystems to sustain them are becoming increasingly important.'

Also critical, observes Visut Baimai, head of the Biodiversity Research and Training Programme, is the role species monitoring plays in helping Thailand to better understand the direction climate change is taking.

Says the biologist: 'While so many resources are invested in sophisticated climate models, observations of plant and animal responses to the rise in the ambient temperatures of their habitats can tell us a lot.' That includes the tracking of microorganisms. According to Visut, the further documentation of species big and small could only help accelerate public support for more aggressive climate change policies.

'Thai people are more concerned with animals than they are graphs and charts,' he says. 'For better or worse, they need to see these kinds of impact before they will feel compelled to act.'

* This story is part of a series of features on biodiversity by IPS, CGIAR/Bioversity International, IFEJ and UNEP/CBD, members of Communicators for Sustainable Development (http://www.complusalliance.org).

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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