Log in or Sign up
bioprospecting love

bioprospecting

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The attempt to discover in living organisms biochemicals or genetic sequences that have medical, agricultural, or industrial value.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology The methodical search for novel pharmaceutical (and other) products from plants and microorganisms.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bio- +‎ prospecting

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bioprospecting.

Examples

  • They come primarily in the form of "bioprospecting" researchers and pharmaceutical companies that scour areas of natural diversity and indigenous knowledge seeking the next cancer treatment or face moisturizer.

    Why Does This Prominent Amazon Researcher Face 14 Years in Prison for Biopiracy? 2008

  • They come primarily in the form of "bioprospecting" researchers and pharmaceutical companies that scour areas of natural diversity and indigenous knowledge seeking the next cancer treatment or face moisturizer.

    Why Does This Prominent Amazon Researcher Face 14 Years in Prison for Biopiracy? 2008

  • Nano said the team's study has also illuminated the emerging importance of "bioprospecting" in the Arctic's unique, organism-rich ecosystems, a field of scientific research and economic development in which Canada - despite its vast expanse of Arctic land and water - is falling behind more competitive polar nations.

    canada.com Top Stories 2010

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    Homepage 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    Ventura County Star Stories 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    ajc.com - News 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    Ventura County Star Stories 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    WCAX - Local News 2009

  • The policy is expected to go into effect early next year following more than a decade of concern and a lawsuit over "bioprospecting" in Yellowstone National Park.

    Ventura County Star Stories 2009

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • MaryW commented on the word bioprospecting

    For the first half-hour that Edna Molewa, the honorable minister of environmental affairs (South Africa), speaks, we hear words like "bioprospecting" but not words like "biodiversity." To bioprospect is to scout out "green gold," plants and animals of commercial value.

    "We need to improve the infrastructure of our national parks, to facilitate bioprospecting" says the minister. This is in the spirit of the "green economy" and "job creation," important buzzwords in the country's "new sustainable economy." South Africa, one of the 17 megadiverse countries—those that together account for 70 percent of Earth's biodiversity—is just one of many nations with recent bioprospecting legislation.

    Katarzyna Nowak, "Rhinos Under the Gun," American Scholar, Summer 2016, p. 6, at p. 9.

    July 2, 2016