BG’s drug discovery programs, traditionally known as bioprospecting, have been active since 1986, collecting over 40,000 plant samples for biological evaluation by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agrochemical companies. William L. Brown Center (WLBC) botanists are engaged in this research through partnerships with government, private, and university research labs active in natural products research. More than a dozen bioactive chemical compounds new to science, some with interesting therapeutic potential, have been discovered through these programs. In return, host countries have benefited from sources of sustained income, technology transfer, training programs and equipment.

In 1986, the Garden entered an agreement with the United States National Cancer Institute (see Natural Products Branch) to collect and supply plant samples from Tropical Africa and Madagascar for evaluation as potential anti-cancer drugs. A number of promising biological compounds have been discovered from this program, including the antimalarial korupensamines from a newly described species in Cameroon. This ongoing program will supply NCI with more than 16,000 plant samples.

The International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Agriculture is an effort among research institutions to address issues of drug discovery, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable economic growth. MBG entered an ICBG partnership in 1993 and currently works with Virginia Polytechnic Institute, the National Center for Pharmaceutical Research in Madagascar (Centre National d' Applications et des Recherches Pharmaceutiques-CNARP) and Dow AgroSciences. The Garden's primary role in the project is to provide CNARP with plant samples from throughout Madagascar, which are screened for medicinal use by Virginia Polytechnic and Dow

The third large-scale drug discovery program was initiated in 2000 with Sequoia Sciences [website], which signed a collaborative agreement with the Central African country of Gabon. Garden botanists work with Gabon’s National Center for Scientific Research and Technology to collect plant samples in regions where no botanical research has previously been conducted. The plant samples are extracted using Sequoia’s innovative lab methods, which produce “chemical libraries” of hundreds of individual compounds from each plant sample, allowing compounds to be more thoroughly evaluated. These techniques have resulted in discoveries of several compounds of high interest to natural products companies.

The Garden’s most recent bioprospecting partnership is with the University of Mississippi’s Thad Cochran National Center for Natural Products Research, initiated in 2001. WLBC botanists collect plants throughout the United States for the University. To date, over 1400 samples have been collected from 8 states, including Missouri, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Additional botanical expeditions are planned in biologically-rich regions of North America.

Natural Products Research Policy

The mission of the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) is "To discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and enrich life." MBG researchers pursuing that mission adhere to a set of guidelines issued by the Garden's Board of Trustees in April of 2005.

The Plant Genetic Resources Policy aims to define the principles for acquisition, use, and distribution of plant materials and information about plants for research, education, and display purposes at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Staff of the MBG acquire, through collection, exchange, or purchase, plants or specimens of plants for the living or preserved collections and to be used in research, education, and display programs. Well-documented collections are a critical component of display, research, education, and display programs at the MBG and their acquisition and exchange are essential for the MBG to fulfill its mission.

Full statement of policy.

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