Scientists Seek New Medicines in Lichens of Arenal
Scientists from the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) are looking around the plant-life of Arenal for lichens. Actually what they are really seeking are microscopic mushrooms that live in the lichens from which new medicines, specifically antibiotics, might be discovered. According to Giselle Tamayo, scientist with INBio, tests have shown that a particular lichen that they have identified displays newly discovered antibiotic activity. Since many bacterias show resistance to known antibiotics, discovering new medicines is very important to science. The process to obtain a new medicine from a new organism such as this lichen, however, is very lengthy and can take 15 to 20 years. In this investigation, INBio is working together with the University of Michigan and Harvard. Why is a volcanic area such as Arenal so important? According to biologist, Loengrin Umaña, after an eruption the degradation of rocks around the volcano permit the accumulation of dust that “fertilizes” the ground with the nitrogen that plant-life needs to grow, such as the lichens. The lichens, once collected are then submitted to several distinct processes. First is the extraction of the compounds that comprise the lichen. Next the scientists isolate certain microscopic mushrooms that live inside the lichen (each lichen contains four or five of these mushrooms). It is the secretions of the mushrooms where the potential medical uses are discovered. There is an additional benefit to the scientific community as a result of these studies and that is the discovery of new species of mushrooms. Each year some seven or eight new species are discovered and recorded. Scientists have also discovered an enzyme in the aguas termales (hot springs) around Arenal that is being used as a fabric softener for cotton that can be used by textile manufacturers. This use of this enzyme is already in the process of commercialization under the trade name “Cottonase” by a company in the U.S. known as Verenium.
Link to Article in La Nación (in Spanish)
Tags: arenal, costa rica, hot springs, volcano