The Impact of Vanishing Biodiversity on Human Health

June 06, 2012 from Earth Focus

What do plants, snakes, molds, marine sponges, and cone snails have in common? They have helped develop medicines that save human lives. Biodiversity -- the variety of life on Earth -- is key to human survival. But plants, animals, and microorganisms are disappearing at unprecedented rates. What impact will this have on human health? Find out in this Earth Focus special report, produced in collaboration with Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment.

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Health

Health is the level of functional or, metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind and body, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain. The World Health Organization defined health in its broader sense in 1946 ... Explore this topic

Biodiversity

Welcome to Biodiversity, a shared, online source of facts and information built by fans, enthusiasts and experts around the world. Join us and be a part of building and improving it! Explore this topic

Medicine

Medicine is the applied science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness in human beings. Contemporary medicine applie... Explore this topic

Organism

В биологията организмът е съвкупност от съгласувани системи от органи. Това е също съвкупност от всички съставни елементи на живото тяло. Организмът е изграден от една или множество клетки. Многоклетъчните организми са изградени от два вида клетки — телесни и размножителни. Те... Explore this topic

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the world or the Blue Planet. Earth formed approximately 4.... Explore this topic

Conus

Conus is a large genus of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs, with the common names of cone snails, cone shells or cones. This genus is placed in the subfamily Coninae within the family Conidae. Geologically speaking, the genus is known from the Eoc... Explore this topic

Environment

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements. Environ... Explore this topic

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions. Cli... Explore this topic

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms, normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost be... Explore this topic

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. HMS is home to 705 students in the M.D. program, 147 in the D.M.D. program, 556 in the Ph.D. progr... Explore this topic

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Health

Biodiversity

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