Nature Helps... How Plants and Other Organisms Contribute to Solve H
Nature helps... of course at first itself by developing measures that give bacteria, fungi, plants and animals a chance to be successful in their struggle for life. As a latecomer on Earth, Homo sapiens was gifted with some droplets of the divine spirit o
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Heinz Mehlhorn Editor
Nature Helps... How Plants and Other Organisms Contribute to Solve Health Problems
Editor Prof. Dr. Heinz Mehlhorn Department of Zoomorphology Cell Biology and Parasitology Heinrich Heine University Universita¨tsstrasse 1 40225 Du¨sseldorf Germany [email protected]
ISSN 2192-3671 e-ISSN 2192-368X ISBN 978-3-642-19381-1 e-ISBN 978-3-642-19382-8 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-19382-8 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011930797 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface or why such a book
Nature helps . . . – of course – at first itself. All living organisms (bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals including prehistoric humans) had and still have to survive the struggle for life, since for millions of years they have been in competition with many individuals of their own species and with even higher numbers of competitors belonging to the rest of the living system, if they fit principally into the conditions given at a particular place on Earth. This constant need to be always somewhat better / fitter than competitors was and is the motor of evolution that led and leads to unbelievable variations in body shape, astonishing physiological adaptations, and many other admirable abilities. Thus, thousands of skilful methods of defense against attacks from the surroundings have been developed. For example, toxic substances and repellents evolved that are used to keep predators away from engorging such individuals. Other species developed medical remedies, which support the wound-healing process or increase the success of reproduction respectively allows a faster growth rate under favorable conditions. Other compounds (e.g., prohibitors of freezing or “overheating”) helped survival in poor conditions such as icy winters or extreme heat. These facilities have been developed over millions of years and all species that had not been able to develop such facilities, are today no longer visible as they have returned to the general
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