Scientists fear humanity could lose half of all its future medicines because so many plants face extinction

Humanity faces the loss of about half of all future medicines because so many plants face extinction, according to a new report.

Almost half of all flowering plants on earth are threatened – around 100,000.

Since most medicines are based on plant compounds, scientists estimate that because 45 percent of flowering plants are endangered, this means that humans may lose a large potential source of future medicines.

The findings are contained in The State of the World’s Plants and Fungi, a major report by scientists at Kew.

The Kew scientists also warn that many plants are dying out before they are even discovered. They estimate that three out of four plants not yet discovered by science are in danger.

Scientists estimate that humans may be at risk of losing a major source of future medicine as 45 percent of flowering plants are threatened (stock image)

This is based on the estimate that of the 2,500 new plants discovered each year, an average of three-quarters are immediately classified as endangered, suggesting that future discoveries will be equally threatened.

Conservation analyst Dr Matilda Brown said: ‘We’re looking at over 100,000 (plant) species under threat – that’s more than the total number of species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, all our vertebrates combined.

“And when we consider that nine out of 10 of our medicines come from plants, what we’re potentially staring down the barrel of is losing up to half of all our future medicines.” More than 200 scientists from 102 institutions in 30 countries around the world contributed to Kew’s report.

Mycologists – those who study fungi – estimate that there are approximately 2.5 million species of fungi, of which only 155,000 have been cataloged in total.

The report also warned that an estimated three in four yet-to-be-discovered plants are at risk (stock image)

Professor Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at Kew, said: ‘We know more about the surface of Mars than we do about fungi on this planet.’

Fungi are also a rich potential source of medicines and useful compounds – including those that can aid industrial processes such as the breakdown of plastics.

The report says more than 59 percent of new plant and fungal species described in 2020 are likely to meet the criteria for Endangered and 24 percent are likely to meet the criteria for Critically Endangered.

The report highlights that new types of fungi are being uncovered even in the UK.