Conrad Gorinsky

Dr. Conrad Gorinsky Guyana-born chemist who studied in the UK. He spent months with the Amazonian Wapishana tribe and later obtained US patents for tipir and cunani, two chemicals derived from plants used by the tribe.

Patent controversy

Rupununine

Gorinsky patented tipir as rupununine (after the nearby Rupununi river), which is an antipyretic derived from the Greenheart tree. His patent claims it may be used to treat malaria and cancer.

The Wapishana tribe grind this nut and use it to stop bleeding and as a contraceptive which provokes miscarriage. They want the patent rescinded, but Gorinsky answer was unrepenting:

"Tough, isn't it?", he says. "I was not the only person looking at the greenheart. I just picked up a nut and said 'what can I do with this?'. I have analysed the chemical structure but I have not patented the tree or a life process. How can I tell the Wapishana about the science? They just inherited the greenheart. They don't own it. I have invested in this with my own money".^[1]

Cunaniol

Gorinsky also patented a chemical derived from a plant which the natives call cunani and use for fishing. Being a potent neurotoxin, fish in the surrounding area become disoriented and can easily be caught. The chemical,'cunaniol', has no effect on humans or lasting environmental impact. Gorinsky patented the use of cunaniol for the treatment of heart disease.

Footnotes

1. ^ Patenting life, Biopirates who seek the greatest prizes, John Vidal, The Guardian, Wednesday 15 November 2000 [1]

External links

• Indigenous Community Bans TNC Researchers
• Biopirates who seek the greatest prizes
• Raiders of Forest Cures
• Biosafety, Patents, Biopiracy
• USPTO - Rupununine
• Patent Lens - cunaniol

Persondata
Name	Gorinsky, Conrad
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death