What are genetic resources?
Genetic resources are the genes found in plants and animals that are of actual or potential value to people. (The term is also used to refer to chemicals found in plants and animals, since these are based on genetic information.) Through the use of new biotechnologies, genes from any plant or animal can be transferred to another. Plant and animal breeders, for example, use genes found in wild species, and genetically engineered organisms are now being used for new industrial applications such as mining, wastewater treatment, and carbon-dioxide scrubbing. The different biochemicals produced by species are of considerable value in the pharmaceutical and pesticide industries. Question: What is biodiversity prospecting? Answer: Biodiversity prospecting is the exploration of wild plants and animals for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical resources. Question: Why did World Resources Institute, Costa Rica’s National Biodiversity Institute (INBio), Rainforest Alliance, and the Africa
Genetic resources are the genetic material of plants, animals and other organisms that contains characteristics of actual or potential value. A resource is something that is used. Genetic resources are disappearing at unprecedented rates. More than 15 million hectares of tropical forest are lost each year and experts estimate that as much as 8 percent of all plant species could disappear in the next 25 years. Over the past 50 years, new uniform crop varieties have replaced many thousands of local varieties over huge areas of production. Currently more than 20 percent of the breeds documented with population figures are at risk of extinction. During the last five years 60 breeds were lost—an average of one breed per month. Many others have yet to be formally identified and may disappear before anything is known about them.
