Wiktionary
n. (context biology English) The methodical search for novel pharmaceutical (and other) products from plants and microorganisms.
Wikipedia
Bioprospecting is the process of discovery and commercialization of new products based on biological resources. Despite indigenous knowledge being intuitively helpful, bioprospecting has only recently begun to incorporate such knowledge in focusing screening efforts for bioactive compounds. Bioprospecting may involve biopiracy, the exploitative appropriation of indigenous forms of knowledge by commercial actors, and also includes the search for previously unknown compounds in organisms that have never been used in traditional medicine before.
Usage examples of "bioprospecting".
The company had already reaped over $2 billion in profit from such bioprospecting.
Apparently, he's as good at bioprospecting as he is at pissing people off.
Apparently, he’s as good at bioprospecting as he is at pissing people off.
Some of the big bioprospecting drug companies, like Merck which had spent years trawling the flora and fauna of Costa Rica for resources for new products, had had similar repositories impounded and shipped off-Earth, though not without bloody battles over compensation.