ix
Preface
In an era of growing awareness about the threats of biodiversity loss, the society is
witnessing an unprecedented interest in novel bioresources, which are increasingly
prized for their potential use in many applications. The loss of bioresources is occurring at an alarming rate, a consequence of increasing population pressure, agricultural land degradation, urbanization and above all neglect. Deforestation and forest
degradation are large-scale problems in developing countries.
To meet the demands of the society in industrial, healthcare, food and other sectors, the utilization of bioresources is an absolute requirement. At the same time, we
need to make sure that the overexploitation should never result in biodiversity loss.
To manage this situation, we need to have more knowledge on rarely used or unused
resources which are available in bulk and are easy to propagate rapidly. Modern
biotechnology is armed with techniques for sustainable utilization of bioresources
to meet the increasing demand.
The concept of sustainable development indicates that economic and environmental protection are inseparably linked and that the quality of present and future
life fails in meeting basic human needs without destroying the environment on
which the life depends. There is a growing recognition worldwide that conservation
and sustainable management of bioresources are the need of the hour. The use of
biotechnological tools and bioprospecting will open new vistas in many fields viz.
agriculture, medicine, horticulture, environment, etc. Since we cannot do without
exploiting the available bioresources to our advantage, there has to be a balance
between uses of resources and their conservation.
There is an increasing realization that bioresources especially medicinal plants
and microbes can provide cheaper means of disease management by analyzing further their functional potential. This interest has led to a better understanding of the
role of plant and microbial bioactives in health promotion and disease prevention.
Generation of high-throughput data and the study of molecular mechanisms of diseases have all contributed to this effort.
Shiburaj Sugathan
N.S. Pradeep
Sabu Abdulhameed
Kerala, India
Preface
In an era of growing awareness about the threats of biodiversity loss, the society is
witnessing an unprecedented interest in novel bioresources, which are increasingly
prized for their potential use in many applications. The loss of bioresources is occurring at an alarming rate, a consequence of increasing population pressure, agricultural land degradation, urbanization and above all neglect. Deforestation and forest
degradation are large-scale problems in developing countries.
To meet the demands of the society in industrial, healthcare, food and other sectors, the utilization of bioresources is an absolute requirement. At the same time, we
need to make sure that the overexploitation should never result in biodiversity loss.
To manage this situation, we need to have more knowledge on rarely used or unused
resources which are available in bulk and are easy to propagate rapidly. Modern
biotechnology is armed with techniques for sustainable utilization of bioresources
to meet the increasing demand.
The concept of sustainable development indicates that economic and environmental protection are inseparably linked and that the quality of present and future
life fails in meeting basic human needs without destroying the environment on
which the life depends. There is a growing recognition worldwide that conservation
and sustainable management of bioresources are the need of the hour. The use of
biotechnological tools and bioprospecting will open new vistas in many fields viz.
agriculture, medicine, horticulture, environment, etc. Since we cannot do without
exploiting the available bioresources to our advantage, there has to be a balance
between uses of resources and their conservation.
There is an increasing realization that bioresources especially medicinal plants
and microbes can provide cheaper means of disease management by analyzing further their functional potential. This interest has led to a better understanding of the
role of plant and microbial bioactives in health promotion and disease prevention.
Generation of high-throughput data and the study of molecular mechanisms of diseases have all contributed to this effort.
Shiburaj Sugathan
N.S. Pradeep
Sabu Abdulhameed
Kerala, India