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Thousands of micro-organisms, fungi, plant and animal species are being used in the treatment of various illnesses. Many drugs are prepared with chemical substances obtained from living things or duplications of these substances in laboratories. For example, aspirin—an analgesic painkiller familiar to just about everyone, comes from the bark of the willow tree. Quinine, used to treat malaria for the last 70 years, is found in the roots and bark of the cinchona tree. More than 20,000 species of plant are today employed for medicinal purposes.108 According to Professor Norman Farnsworth of Illinois University, plants represent the main source of medicines for some 3.5 to 4 billion people.109
The use of living things, most of whose names we have never even heard of, is increasing every day in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Taxol, used against breast and ovarian cancer, is obtained from the bark of the north American yew tree. Squalamine, which prevents the development ofcancer, comes from the liver of a species of shark; digitalis, an adjunct treatment for people with heart failure, is obtained from the foxglove. Vinblastine and vincristine, two chemical substances (effective against Hodgkin's disease and infantile leukemia) were obtained from the Algerian violet. Thanks to a clotting agent in the horseshoe crab found in North America and the West Indies, potentially fatal bacteria found in vaccines, pills or medical equipment can be identified.110 Antibiotics used against microbes are generally obtained from bacteria and fungal moulds. More than 3,000 species of plant are used for birth control alone.111
Were it not for this diversity in living things, we would have no medical and pharmaceutical industry to speak of. Obviously, many living species have the ability to alleviate certain human diseases and health problems. Despite this, only a very small fraction of the living species in nature have been described, and of those, only an even smaller portion has been studied in detail.
For example, California University's Professor Peter Bryant states that only 1% of the plants in the tropical rain forests have been studied in terms of their medical properties.112 The number of plants and invertebrates that have been investigated comprehensively in terms of whether they are effective against disease is very low.113 Wonderful proteins, molecules and chemical compounds that can liberate human beings from many diseases would already appear to exist in living things.
In addition, bacteria, birds, monkeys, rats, cats, dogs, rabbits, pigs, insects and many other living things are used in medical research and the testing of new drugs and vaccines. For example, the fruit fly drosophila is a laboratory insect widely used in genetic research. The armadillo is one of the few species of animal that can be used to research leprosy.114 The number of animals used annually in scientific studies in the USA alone is 18 to 22 million.115
Never forget, it is God Who creates both disease and cure. The therapies and drugs used in the treatment of disease are simply means. Similarly, the micro-organisms, animals and plants used in the production of treatments and drugs are also just raw materials. It is our Lord, the infinitely compassionate and affectionate, Who creates these living things and their properties that cure diseases and disorders.