Home23 November 2025
What secrets do our native taonga hold that could uncovered through biodiscovery?
Did you know that the modern, popular weight loss drug owes its existence to a lizard? That’s right, the glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) antagonist known also as Ozempic or Wegovy was derived from the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum), a blue tongued venomous lizard, native to the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
This peptide was discovered through a process called biodiscovery. Biodiscovery, a broad term for a complex subject, has with a checkered history and is something the New Zealand government has recently invested millions into. Investing in biodiscovery is a great idea in theory but putting it into practice will be difficult technically and complicated ethically. Understanding these hurdles will be essential for getting the best out of this process.
What is Biodiscovery?
Biodiscovery can be thought of as a process of collecting biological resources and analysing their genetic or biochemical components to find active compounds and ingredients. At Bioprotection Aotearoa, we also consider some interdisciplinary research as part of this category, whether this research is on biodiversity and ecosystem science to support environmental management or on isolating and understanding microbial communities that may protect plants from disease. We carry out both forms in Bioprotection Aotearoa, from novel phage discoveries for biocontrol, to understanding the roles that microbes have in supporting resilient landscapes.
The Gila monster story is a classic example of biodiscovery for the purposes of aiding in human health. An endocrinologist and researcher Daniel Drucker was looking for a hormone similar enough to the human gut’s GLP-1. Daniel had also read the work of endocrinologist John Eng, gastroenterologist Jean-Pierre Raufman and biochemist John Pisano, who had sequenced the proteins in Gila monster venom and found two that looked like human GLP-1. Three decades later, this research has now transformed the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic disorders that affect more than a billion people worldwide.
Practicality and potential problems
Given this ‘recent’ success, it makes sense that the New Zealand government wants to invest millions, $43M to be exact, into a biodiscovery platform. On the surface, this is a good idea – what secret compounds do our native taonga hold that could enhance human health?
But below the surface, there are some pragmatic issues that need addressing. While $43M sounds like a lot of money, and by all accounts it is, new drugs cost $2B from start to finish and take 20-30 years from discovery to retail. What will a $43M investment over 6 years deliver?
Then there’s biodiscovery’s dark past that needs to be carefully navigated.
Indigenous knowledge often serves as the basis for modern drug development. When biodiscovery has a power imbalance, or a lack of transparency, it is called biopiracy. This is the unethical and illegal exploitation of these resources and the Indigenous knowledge associated with them.
Biopiracy has led to the misuse of resources and mistrust among communities. There are countless examples of this but perhaps the most famous is the neem tree, a native tree species of India. In the mid 1990’s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American company W.R. Grace received a European patent on a fungicide derived from neem oil. The neem tree’s medicinal and pest-repellent properties had been a part of Indian traditional knowledge for centuries. Patenting neem oil products appropriates traditional knowledge without the consent of or compensation for Indigenous knowledge holders. This darker side to biodiscovery is one that needs to be at the forefront of our minds as we embark on the journey of discovery for our next biological solutions.
Going about biodiscovery the right way
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we will indeed have a treasure trove of genes, molecules and biological information among our biodiversity – but how exactly will the new Biodiscovery Platform harness Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique biodiversity and support the development of high-value products, innovation, and a globally competitive bioeconomy on $43M over 6 years? And how will this platform do so in a way that is fair and ethical?
One step we should take to ensure that our processes are equitable is to sign and ratify the Nagoya Protocol, an international treaty for the fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. We do have some domestic processes to support ethical access and benefit sharing research, such as the Indigenous-controlled biorepository Aotearoa Genomics Data Repository, a secure within-nation storage, management and sharing repository of non-human genomic data generated from samples in Aotearoa New Zealand. I hope this resource will continue to be used for future biodiscovery ventures to ensure our genomic data remain in the control of mana whenua and Aotearoa New Zealand.
I am quietly optimistic that we can make inroads into biodiscovery innovation, with the right plan and people in place. What I am less confident about is our ability to ensure that we have a sustainable supply of biodiscovery sources given the mixed messages coming from government about how our environment and biodiversity is to be managed. To realise our potential, we need to be more strategic about how we protect and use our natural resources. and how we carry out the fundamental research needed to understand the unique creatures that hold a treasure trove of information. Importantly, we need to be doing all of this alongside our communities to maximise and equitably, ethically share any benefits.
Related Media
- Radio Interview | Waatea News
Following the release of this blog, Amanda joined a radio interview with Dale Husband on Radio Waatea to discuss the new biodiscovery platform.
