[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H3737-H3738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     THE IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY

  (Mr. GILCHREST asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to talk to you about 
the drug taxol. Taxol was first used on a trial basis in 1983 to treat 
ovarian and breast cancer. Today, it is the most effective treatment 
for achieving remission in advanced ovarian cancer. It took researchers 
over 20 years, testing thousands of plant and animal extracts from all 
over the world to come up with a safe and effective compound able to 
kill cancer in humans. Now, taxol gives new hope to many of the women 
who suffer from breast and ovarian cancer, which now kills almost 
40,000 women a year.
  This amazing drug was originally derived from a tree called the 
Pacific yew. The yew three is found in the old growth forests of the 
Pacific Northwest and was once burned as scrap. It takes from 3 to 12 
trees to provide enough taxol for each cancer patient. Each tree takes 
about 100 years to reach maturity.
  [[Page H3738]] It is important for us to see the connection between 
the Endangered Species Act, biological diversity, and taxol.

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