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A. MONGE Y COLS. ANAL. REAL ACAD. FARM.

has been lost. Alternatively, the domestication of plants, such as the Ca-
tharanthus roseus G. Don of great interest in the production of anti-
cancer alkaloids like vincristine, represents a form of conservation of bio-
diversity, of training in agricultural techniques of economic interest, and
of the creation of a local chemical industry.

Medicinal Chemistry and Ownership of Natural Resources

Recognizing the sovereign rights that each country has over its
resources (4), the aim of this report is to prompt compromises between
developed countries and developing countries in the area of ownership.
New circumstances (5) have emerged that suggest reform of the tradi-
tional system of patents essential for commercialization and diffusion of
science. Presently, when a native community produces a unique cloth, it
can be copied by the whole world because it is not legally protected. Al-
ternatively, when an entity in a developed country copies and registers
modifications based on the designs of a native community, absolutely no
one, not even the original artists, can legally copy them (6). It could be
argued that the native community has the sole responsibility to register its
work in order to obtain legal protection. However, such countries are
typically unable to do this because of a lack of knowledge regarding these
types of procedures or due to a scarcity of the means to achieve such
ends. The same situation can happen with a galenic preparation of a plant
that has biological activity when initially used by a traditional culture.

Establishing ownership may not be simple. It is imperative to
begin by defining the discoverer (7). In the discovery of medicinal
agents, by traditional ways of Medicinal Chemistry, this can correspond
to an individual researcher or to an entire research team. In plants with
therapeutic applications originating from native communities, the ques-
tion is much more complicated. Here we are speaking more of a “chain”
of inventors. This can result in problems when it comes to the selection
of the beneficiaries and the distribution of the benefits obtained. A matter
of equal importance is the fact that certain cultures hold nature to be sa-
cred and look askance at any attempts at its legal protection as a prelude
to commercialization.

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