Rutgers Targets Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

• ICBG Central Asia Project
• Dr. Raskin's Laboratory

llya Raskin is hunting in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for plants, fungi and microbes with pharmaceutical potential. Raskin, a member of the Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment at Rutgers' Cook College, has engaged colleagues in these Central Asian countries and at the University of Illinois in this groundbreaking venture.

Jerry Kukor, Lena Struwe, Jim White and David Zaurov from Cook College and Mary Ann Lila from the University of Illinois are among the scientists accompanying Raskin on major biodiversity explorations designed to improve human health, protect natural resources and benefit the economies of the host countries.

Rutgers' International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) Central Asia Program is rooted in existing collaborations with scientists in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. These cooperative relationships have placed Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in a unique position in that part of the world.

"The extent of the goodwill, hospitality and friendship we encounter in these countries is truly unprecedented," said Raskin, a professor in the department of plant biology and pathology at Cook. "We feel fortunate to be a part of the developing political and economic ties between the United States, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan."

The discovery and development of products, such as pharmaceuticals, from natural sources can pave the way for new business and industries in developing countries. The search for and identification of the biological resources from which these products are derived also can form the basis for conserving the native biodiversity. At the same time, these activities offer fresh research opportunities and provide a training ground for a new generation of scientists.

Raskin described the biodiversity of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as extremely varied and largely unexplored, and spread over a wide range of climatic zones. "It holds the promise of a wealth of potentially useful compounds," he said.