Himalayan Yew Species, Source Of Taxol, In Rapid Decline - Has Lost At Least 50% Of Range

[hatrack]

A yew tree in the Himalayas that produces the chemotherapy drug, Taxol, is in danger of extinction. An update to the IUCN Red List, has moved the tree, named Taxus contorta, from Vulnerable to Endangered. Overharvesting for medicine and fuelwood have placed the species in serious danger.

Craig Hilton-Taylor with the Red List told the Guardian that it doesn't have to be this way: "The harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plants. Harvest and trade should be carefully controlled to ensure it is sustainable, but plants should also be grown in cultivation to reduce the impact of harvesting."

Taxus contorta has lost at least half of its range in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Tibet, and Afghanistan, and is believed to still be in decline.

Taxol is used to treat several kinds of cancer, including breast, ovarian, and lung cancer. It has also been used to fight AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1110-hance_chemotree.html

[zonkers]

1. We lose our diversity and we are done. Our oceans are already filled with junk fish.

[MineralMan]

2. What are "junk fish?"

I suppose you mean fish people don't like to eat. If that's the case, it's a pretty strange thing to call a fish.

[zonkers]

4. Maybe I am using the term wrong but I heard it used to describe those species that

survive in the face of cross the board depletion of major species from big to small. It changes region to region.

[MineralMan]

5. Well, I don't know whether you're using the term incorrectly or not.

I've never heard the term before, so I was hoping you'd be able to explain what a "junk fish" is. Apparently you cannot. A fish is simply a fish. "Junk" is a human judgment about the value of that particular species of fish. I don't believe anyone in the biological sciences would use such a term.

If a species survives when other species are disappearing, it is hardly a junk species. Rather, it is a species that is able to adapt to changing conditions better than the others. If that were not so, it would not survive.

Perhaps you could provide some more information about your statement. Some links, perhaps. If not, then I'd guess you were just sort of pulling that out of your butt.

Junk fish...what a concept.

[NickB79]

6. Junk fish, garbage fish, bycatch, all are well-worn terms

http://www.sportfishermen.com/2010/06/one-mans-garbage-fish-another-mans-treasure/

Apparently, they just had a "2011 Garbage Fish Classic" tournament (wonder where coverage of that was on ESPN?): http://garbagefish.com/

I wouldn't be so hard on the poster you responded to, it's a common misperception when you've been conditioned for so long to see the natural world as just a mix of stuff you can use and stuff you can't.

[MineralMan]

7. As I said. The categorization of some fish into the "junk"

category is strictly a human construct. Oddly enough, the designation varies from place to place. I'm an avid angler, and I fish for all species. I consider them all to be equal. A 10-pound common carp is a fine sport fish. I release all of them, so I can catch them again later. I don't find 30-pound and heavier carp very exciting, though. They tend to be a bit sluggish when caught.

One of my prize catches last year (also released) was a 5-lb greater redhorse sucker. A strikingly beautiful fish from the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, MN, and a worth opponent on light tackle.

There are no "junk fish." There are only fish that some people don't care about. I care about them all.

[zonkers]

8. Okay, the term is trash fish not junk fish and it is used by Taras Grescoe in his book

Bottom Feeder: How to eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood

http://www.amazon.com/Bottomfeeder-Ethically-World-Vanishing-Seafood/dp/1596912251

[NickB79]

3. Damn. Yews are notoriously slow-growing too.

My yew seedlings, grown from berries I hand-picked 3 years ago, are still only 6" tall. I'll be dead before I have a decent-sized tree :-)

[GliderGuider]

9. Hand-picked yew berries? Reminds me of the ancient Anglo-Saxon phrase

"Pluck yew!" :hi:

[SmashTheRight]

10. Taxol can be made in a lab now

There are several methods that have been made up using other plants. It's still bad for the trees, but at least it is still possible to make the drug.

On the other hand, I wonder how long before climate change makes those other species of trees go extinct.