Biodiversity: the overlooked source of human health

Biodiversity sustains life on Earth, and its conservation is imperative for the survival of our species. Biodiversity provides essential service to humans (including medicine). Its alarming rate of decline urges us to take action to ensure our survival.There is a fine balance between the use of wild medical plant populations and their conservation. If plant populations are harvested below a threshold, the species reproductive capacity becomes irreversibly reduced, which is leading to the alarming decline of known medicinal plants.Degradation of ecosystems due to human activity (e.g., agriculture, urbanization, mining) is a main driver of emerging infectious diseases and zoonotic outbreaks.Synthetic biology may provide effective solutions to restore and preserve biodiversity as well as to increase the volume of active compound production with reduced environmental impact.