page_title: Bioprospecting
section_title: Hoodia gordonii
hierarchical_section_title: Bioprospecting / Famous cases of biopiracy / Hoodia gordonii
caption_attribution_description: Afrikaans: bobbejaanghaap, bergghaap, bitterghaap, bokhorings, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, munisipaliteit Cederberg, Wes-Kaap, Suid-Afrika Català: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Cap Occidental, Sud-àfrica Čeština: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Západní Kapsko, Jihoafrická republika Dansk: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Kommune Cederberg, Vest-Kapprovinsen, Sydafrika Deutsch: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Gemeinde Cederberg, Westkap, Südafrika English: Bushman's Hat, Queen of the Namib, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Cederberg Local Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa Esperanto: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Komunumo Cederberg, Okcidenta Kablando, Sud-Afriko Español: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Comuna Cederberg, Provincia Occidental del Cabo, Sudáfrica Eesti: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Lääne-Kapimaa, Lõuna-Aafrika Vabariik Suomi: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Kunta Cederberg, Western Cape, Etelä-Afrikka Français&#160;: cactus coupe faim, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Commune Cederberg, Cap-Occidental, d'Afrique du Sud Galego: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Concello Cederberg, Cabo Occidental, Sudáfrica Magyar: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Dél-afrikai Köztársaság Italiano: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Comune Cederberg, Western Cape, Sudafrica Lëtzebuergesch: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Westkaap, Südafrika Lietuvių: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Vakarų Kapas, Pietų Afrikos Respublikos Nederlands: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Gemeente Cederberg, West-Kaap, Zuid-Afrika Norsk bokmål: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Kommune Cederberg, Western Cape, Sør-Afrika Polski: Trojeściowate, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Prowincja Przylądkowa Zachodnia, Republika Południowej Afryki Português: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Município Cederberg, Cabo Ocidental, África do Sul Русский: Ластовнёвые, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Община Cederberg, Западная Капская провинция, Южно-Африканская Республика Slovenčina: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Západné Kapsko , Republika Južna Afrika Slovenščina: Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Občina Cederberg, Zahodna Kaplandija, Republika Južna Afrika Svenska: Flugtallriksläktet, Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne, Biedouw Valley, Kommun Cederberg, Västra Kapprovinsen, Sydafrika
context_page_description: Bioprospecting is the exploration of natural sources for small molecules, macromolecules and biochemical and genetic information that could be developed into commercially valuable products for the agricultural, aquaculture, bioremediation, cosmetics, nanotechnology, or pharmaceutical industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, almost one third of all small-molecule drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 1981 and 2014 were either natural products or compounds derived from natural products.
  Terrestrial plants, fungi and actinobacteria have been the focus of many past bioprospecting programs, but interest is growing in less explored ecosystems and organisms as a means of identifying new compounds with novel biological activities. Species may be randomly screened for bioactivity or rationally selected and screened based on ecological, ethnobiological, ethnomedical, historical or genomic information.
  When a region’s biological resources or indigenous knowledge are unethically appropriated or commercially exploited without providing fair compensation, this is known as biopiracy.
context_section_description: Hoodia gordonii, a succulent plant, originates from the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. For generations it has been known to the traditionally living San people as an appetite suppressant. In 1996 South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research began working with companies, including Unilever, to develop dietary supplements based on Hoodia. Originally the San people were not scheduled to receive any benefits from the commercialization of their traditional knowledge, but in 2003 the South African San Council made an agreement with CSIR in which they would receive from 6 to 8% of the revenue from the sale of Hoodia products.
  In 2008 after having invested €20 million in R&D on Hoodia as a potential ingredient in dietary supplements for weight loss, Unilever terminated the project because their clinical studies did not show that Hoodia was safe and effective enough to bring to market.
caption: The succulent Hoodia gordonii
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