Biological gold rush threatening Antarctica

Kuala Lumpur - A "21st Century gold rush" for Antarctica's biological treasures threatens to overwhelm international efforts to regulate their exploitation, experts warn in a United Nations University report released on Monday.

Bioprospectors are racing to find and exploit the genetic and biochemical riches of "extremophiles" - organisms that have evolved unique characteristics to survive in earth's most hostile environments, the report says.

"Many scientists believe that isolating and extracting the substances that allow these organisms to prosper could have enormous implications in biotechnoloy research, possibly leading to new cancer treatment drugs, antibiotic and industrial compounds.

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