Rapamycin Origin โฃStory: Easter Island Community Sees No Benefit From Anti-Aging DrugS millions in Profits
RAPA NUI, โฃEASTER ISLAND – A life-extending drug with origins on Easter Island has generated millions โขfor pharmaceutical companies, yet the island’s indigenous Rapa Nui peopleโ have received noโค economic benefit or scientific recognition for โฃtheir contribution, sparking a debate over biopiracy and indigenous rights.
The story โฃbegan with a 1969 expedition to Rapa Nui, ostensibly โto Document Ecosystem Biodiversity and โฃ Analyze the effects of external contact โon health of the island’s nearly 1,000 inhabitants. During the โresearch, Rapa Nui โคpeopleโข provided Biological samples of local flora and fauna,โค though reports โindicate their participation was secured through a combination of subsons, gifts and pressure of religiousโ figures.
Years later, in 1970,โ Ayerst Research Laboratories analyzed โthe samples and isolated rapamycin, a โmolecule produced by โคthe soil โbacterium Streptomyces hydroscopicus.โ Rapamycin demonstrated antifungal and antibacterial properties. Subsequent research revealed the drug Inhibits a โฃprotein โขknown as MTOR, a regulator of cell growth and the immune system, effectively reducing inflammations and slowing cell aging.
Despite these breakthroughs, the โขRapa Nui people were excluded from the financial gains. The medicine generated Millionaireโ profits to pharmaceutical companies without providing economic benefits, or scientific recognition to the community,โ nor were they offered privileged access โto the โdrug itself.
The case has opened an argument on indigenous rights and biopiracy, raising questions โฃabout the appropriation of traditional knowlege and biological resources without consent or fair compensation.
One current researcher of rapamycin stated in May 2025 that he considers the situation unfair, โฃadvocating for โคtheโฃ scientificโ communityโข to initiate dialog with the โฃRapa Nui people toโ explore collaborativeโ actions.
