Medicinal tree used in chemotherapy drug faces extinction

This article is about a species of Himalayan yew tree being at the brink of extinction because of over-harvesting. The tree that is found in India, Afghanistan, and Nepal, has been being used to produce Taxol which is a chemotherapy drug.

Taxol was discovered by US National Cancer Institute in the 1960's. Taxol is isolated in the bark of the Pacific yew tree. All 11 species of yew tree has Taxol in it. "The harvesting of the barks kills the tree, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clipping, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plant." said Craig Hilton-Taylor, IUCN red list unit manager. He also suggested that the plant should be grown in cultivation to reduced the harvesting of the wild population.

IUCN red list is the most detailed and authoritative survey of the planet's species. IUCN red list is drawn from the work of thousands of scientists around the globe. There are 61,000 species on the list. The newest list includes 801 species that are extinct, 9,568 are endangered and 10.002 species are vulnerable, with the main threats being overused, pollution, habitat loss, and degradation.