Bio-prospecting in Bhutan: Its Scope and Challenges.

ABSTRACT

Natural products have been an important source of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, fragrances, veterinary products, organic pesticides and many more. Many of the modern drugs that are currently available are the natural products derivatives. Since the diseases are scourging the mankind and its allies, there is urgent need for new drugs. There is also increasing demands for cosmetics, nutraceuticals, fragrances and other organic products. From these perspectives, there is huge potential for bioprospecting worldwide. For Bhutan, while there is a challenge in terms of funding the bioprospecting activities, there are lots of scopes for bioprospecting initiative. This is because; Bhutan is rich in biodiversity and also rich in traditional medical knowledge. These two critical factors supported by the reliable collaborators would make bioprospecting in Bhutan a success. Thus, this paper presents the scopes and challenges of bioprospecting in Bhutan.