On Tue, 3 Aug 1999 sanjer at televar.com wrote:

> > > Medicinal plants are particularly important, Raven said.
> >
> > For example, rosy periwinkle, a plant native only to Madagascar, is
> > the source of a drug that makes Eli Lilly US$130 million per year. The
> > drug shot increases the survival rate for childhood leukemia from one
> > in 20 to 19 in 20.
>
> I thought the solution was to reduce the population.
>
> We could go to the other end of the age group and start producing "Soilent
> Green" thereby reducing the population and providing a food source at the
> same time.
>
> Jerry Converse
> Grand Coulee, WA

i think the point (made by mentioning the rosy periwinkle) was our
quality of life can be vastly improved if we stop eating and
reproducing ourselves (and everything else on the planet) out of
house and home.

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>