International conference on Guyana’s flora as a source of drugs

International conference on Guyana’s flora as a source of drugs
Guyana Chronicle, 23 September 2007

BIOENERGY in Guyana’s climate change profile and the potential of
selected Guyana flora as a source of drugs are among issues to be
ventilated during the international conference on biological sciences
in Caribbean and Latin America Societies which opens tomorrow at
Buddy’s International Hotel.

The two-day conference has been welcomed by President Bharrat Jagdeo
who said that an understanding of the status of biological sciences is
most necessary for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of the
region’s rich biological diversity.

In a message to the participants of the conference, the President said
natural ecosystems are under great pressures from the impact of
advanced technologies which are used in the production of a wide range
of goods and services. “We are challenged therefore to better
understand the science of our ecosystems…in order to provide the
necessary guidelines for development activities which impact negatively
on the integrity of our biodiversity,” the President stated.

He is also encouraging the participants to participate in the Iwokrama
Rainforest Programme, “as we seek to develop it as a centre of
excellence for biological studies.”

The conference will discuss a wide range of issues relevant to Guyana
in the areas of environmental science, biotechnology, biodiversity, and
natural resource management.

Among the issues are: Surface Water quality trends in Guyana’s
sugarcane industry; Guyana in the new bio-economy; Butterfly farming;
and Validating Guyana’s ethno-viagra – glimpses of effects of Kapadulla
on rats.

The University of Guyana’s Department of Biology is the host of the
conference.

The keynote speaker of the conference is Professor Shamin Farooqi, the
director of Gynaecologic Oncology Research of the Crozer-Cluster
Medical Centre of Pennsylvania, USA.

Speakers of the two plenary sessions are Mr. Ross MacCulloch, Assistant
Curator of Herpetology of the Royal Ontaria University, and Mr. John
Caesar, Senior Lecturer, Department pf Biology, University of Guyana