32
2 Genetic Resources: Status, Development, Losses, and Conservation
The pharmaceutical industry is also searching for certain functions. But
because of advanced and different techniques, they are predominantly interested
in the information, which determines the functions. The pharmaceutical and other
biotechnology industries mainly synthesize new products, whereas the plant
breeders only incorporate genetically coded information into existing organisms.
Therefore the utilization of genetically coded functions is still more convenient at
present. Hence, biodiversity is the supply of genetic resources for all different
biotechnology industries, largely involving the private sector and increasingly
including the plant breeding industry. Meanwhile, agrobiodiversity solely supplies
the conventional and biotechnology plant breeding industry, in which private and
public breeding companies are involved. Additionally, most pharmaceutical
products derived from plants are based on material from a single component
(Simpson et al., 1996), whereas in agricultural seed production a great number of
genetic inputs are utilized.
In contrast to the situation in the pharmaceutical industry, the users of PGRF A
are primarily composed of a huge number of site-specifically operating plant
breeding companies and millions of farmers are their clientele. In this system,
public agricultural research and development plays a decisive role for the
improvement of seeds. In spite of the recent trend motivated by biotechnological
progress to challenge the status of basic agricultural research on plant productivity
as a public concern, public research continues to be of great importance both
nationally and internationally. In biotechnology, most of the research is, however,
already settled in private companies.
The primary seed products, being the main good of agrobiodiversity, typically
pass through several institutions (research institutes and breeding centers) before
reaching the ultimate producer, i.e., the seed multiplication companies. These long
transaction chains differ significantly from the direct utilization in general
biodiversity, where the ultimate producer, i.e., the biotechnology industry, is
usually already involved in the collection activities. There is a striking difference
between the revenue-generating potential of products concerning pharmaceutical
applications from biodiversity and those involving agricultural products from
agrobiodiversity. Because of the low income elasticity of agricultural products,
the expenditure share of food has declined over the past 50 years, while
expenditures on pharmaceuticals have increased, the rate is even higher than the
overall rate of inflation - because of a high willingness to pay for medical
advances (Zilberman et al., 1997). Although the potential profits from new drugs
can be enormous in the area of pharmaceutics - e.g., 200 million US $ for one
drug (Reid, 1995) - this is presently not so much the case for seeds used in
agriculture. According to an estimate the total annual global net profit of the
world's commercial market for certified seed is less than approximately US $ 2
billion (LEI-DLO, 1994).
Based on the assumption that approximately 4,750 varieties are introduced into
the seed market every year on average (UPOV, 1995), the potential profits for one
single variety are not comparable with those of pharmaceutics. Based on the
amount of annual turnover in the pharmaceutical industry (approximately US $
235 billion), a redistribution of 1 % of drug sales derived from plants, for instance,
2 Genetic Resources: Status, Development, Losses, and Conservation
The pharmaceutical industry is also searching for certain functions. But
because of advanced and different techniques, they are predominantly interested
in the information, which determines the functions. The pharmaceutical and other
biotechnology industries mainly synthesize new products, whereas the plant
breeders only incorporate genetically coded information into existing organisms.
Therefore the utilization of genetically coded functions is still more convenient at
present. Hence, biodiversity is the supply of genetic resources for all different
biotechnology industries, largely involving the private sector and increasingly
including the plant breeding industry. Meanwhile, agrobiodiversity solely supplies
the conventional and biotechnology plant breeding industry, in which private and
public breeding companies are involved. Additionally, most pharmaceutical
products derived from plants are based on material from a single component
(Simpson et al., 1996), whereas in agricultural seed production a great number of
genetic inputs are utilized.
In contrast to the situation in the pharmaceutical industry, the users of PGRF A
are primarily composed of a huge number of site-specifically operating plant
breeding companies and millions of farmers are their clientele. In this system,
public agricultural research and development plays a decisive role for the
improvement of seeds. In spite of the recent trend motivated by biotechnological
progress to challenge the status of basic agricultural research on plant productivity
as a public concern, public research continues to be of great importance both
nationally and internationally. In biotechnology, most of the research is, however,
already settled in private companies.
The primary seed products, being the main good of agrobiodiversity, typically
pass through several institutions (research institutes and breeding centers) before
reaching the ultimate producer, i.e., the seed multiplication companies. These long
transaction chains differ significantly from the direct utilization in general
biodiversity, where the ultimate producer, i.e., the biotechnology industry, is
usually already involved in the collection activities. There is a striking difference
between the revenue-generating potential of products concerning pharmaceutical
applications from biodiversity and those involving agricultural products from
agrobiodiversity. Because of the low income elasticity of agricultural products,
the expenditure share of food has declined over the past 50 years, while
expenditures on pharmaceuticals have increased, the rate is even higher than the
overall rate of inflation - because of a high willingness to pay for medical
advances (Zilberman et al., 1997). Although the potential profits from new drugs
can be enormous in the area of pharmaceutics - e.g., 200 million US $ for one
drug (Reid, 1995) - this is presently not so much the case for seeds used in
agriculture. According to an estimate the total annual global net profit of the
world's commercial market for certified seed is less than approximately US $ 2
billion (LEI-DLO, 1994).
Based on the assumption that approximately 4,750 varieties are introduced into
the seed market every year on average (UPOV, 1995), the potential profits for one
single variety are not comparable with those of pharmaceutics. Based on the
amount of annual turnover in the pharmaceutical industry (approximately US $
235 billion), a redistribution of 1 % of drug sales derived from plants, for instance,