Drug Discovery, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development

通过这种机构间的资金转移，NSF支持NSF和NIH联合的国际生物多样性合作小组项目的第二周期活动。预计将在非洲、亚洲和拉丁美洲支持六个项目，每个项目有三个相互交织的组成部分：药物发现、生物多样性保护和经济发展。人们普遍认为，生物资源和关键生境的丧失具有全球意义，破坏经济增长，降低生活质量，威胁人类健康。这些问题在发展中国家尤其严重，往往是那些最没有能力解决生物退化的原因或减轻其影响的国家。在造成环境退化的复杂原因中，对多种生物资源评价不足是一个重要因素。评估不充分的原因是我们对生物多样性在促进人类健康和维持可行的生态系统方面的作用认识不足。此外，如果要保护生物资源，就必须使土著居民受益。因此，生物资源的可持续经济潜力，例如天然产品的药品和农用化学品，通过给当地经济带来普遍利益，为保护生物多样性带来了希望。ICBG计划的每一个资助项目都将实施生物资源（物种和栖息地）的调查，以及天然药物产品（在许多情况下是天然农用化学品）的筛选项目，并伴随着当地社区在保护和经济发展方面的努力。根据机构间协议的条款，美国国立卫生研究院-福格蒂国际研究中心将为两个机构管理这一合作研究项目。

9816821 Rosenthal Through this interagency transfer of funds, NSF supports the joint NSF and NIH program of International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups in its second cycle of activities. Six projects are anticipated for support, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, each with three interwoven components: drug discovery, biodiversity conservation, and economic development. The loss of biological resources and critical habitat is widely acknowledged to be of global significance, undermining economic growth, degrading quality of life, and threatening human health. The problems are especially acute in developing countries, often those least capable of addressing the causes or mitigating the impacts of biotic degradation. Among the complex causes of environmental decline, the inadequate valuation of diverse biological resources is a significant contributing factor. Inadequate valuation stems from our poor understanding of the role of biodiversity in promoting human health and in sustaining viable ecosystems. Furthermore, biological resources must benefit indigenous populations if the resources are to be conserved. Consequently, the sustainable economic potential of biological resources, such as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals from natural products, offers hope for biodiversity conservation by providing general benefits to local economies. Each of the funded projects in the ICBG program will implement surveys of biotic resources (species and habitats), along with screening programs for natural pharmaceutical products (and in many cases, for natural agrochemicals), and accompanied by local-community efforts in conservation and economic development. NIH-Fogarty Center for International Studies will administer this cooperative research program for the two agencies, under terms of the interagency agreement.