Ocean coral 'offers pain therapy'

[Guo Xiang]

A compound harvested from soft coral off the coast of Taiwan could provide a new treatment for pain from intractable nerve damage, experts say.

Source: BBC News

Will this spark into a new medical trend? How will this affect the environment and marine ecology?

The second question mainly because I'm not sure if the article is referring to coral reefs, which are known to be of extreme importance to marine ecology, and which has been severely affected by human activities (as usual).

If it is indeed coral reefs, do you consider this as media irresponsibility, reporting on stuff that has the potential to hurt the environment?

[Trien Chieu]

Will this spark into a new medical trend? How will this affect the environment and marine ecology?

The second question mainly because I'm not sure if the article is referring to coral reefs, which are known to be of extreme importance to marine ecology, and which has been severely affected by human activities (as usual).

If it is indeed coral reefs, do you consider this as media irresponsibility, reporting on stuff that has the potential to hurt the environment?

What is the most important is whether the treatment is effective, not environment nor ecology. If the treatment is effective, then everything else is becoming secondary.

[Guo Xiang]

What is the most important is whether the treatment is effective, not environment nor ecology. If the treatment is effective, then everything else is becoming secondary.

TC, I knew I can always depend on you to make such moralistic statements.

[Trien Chieu]

TC, I knew I can always depend on you to make such moralistic statements.

Life is precious. Human first, everything else comes after.
Imagine if you are in pain, would you want to get the treatment if it's effective?

[missouri.slim]

Perhaps this is what you were talking about in the dinosaur thread, Guo Xiang. Dominance does not equal fitness.

TC, if it is so valuable, then preserving it is not of secondary importance. Finding a way to use it effectively but sustainably would certainly be necessary. What good is raping the coral for a generation to save ourselves pain then leaving the next generation with nothing? That does nothing to preserve our species; it only serves to preserve our TCs.

I do believe that coral can be somewhat easily farmed. You can even grow it on a small scale in a fish tank.

Missouri.slim

[flamer]

Theres a reason why the report was on the hopeful cure instead of concerns over coral conservation due to a possible cure. ie one concern clearly much superior than the other.

[yittz]

Don't forget that pharmaceuticals rather find the active compound and modify it into a new chemical compound. The new compound will aim to be more effective, greater therapeutic window etc., more specific, and of course from the commercial point of view allow the drug company to patent the drug and add a brand name, market it for $$$ from the government health fund. This indirectly saves the need for original coral reef extracts.

Also, medicine has an ethics committee (not made up of TCs) looking at the whole picture and generally being a pain in the butt for researchers.