Page "Bioprospecting" Paragraph 5

The rosy periwinkle case dates from the 1950s.

The rosy periwinkle, while native to Madagascar, had been widely introduced into other tropical countries around the world well before the discovery of vincristine.

This meant that researchers could obtain local knowledge from one country and plant samples from another.

The locally known medical properties of the plant were not the same as the medical properties discovered and commercially used by Eli Lilly.

The use of the plant as a cure for diabetes was the original stimulus for research, but cures for cancer were the most important results.

Different countries are reported as having acquired different beliefs about the medical properties of the plant.

The Hodgkin's lymphoma chemotherapeutic drug vinblastine is also derivable from the rosy periwinkle.