Prostratin Production: A Partnership Between Traditional Knowledge and Modern Science

In our #RootedInValues blog post series, we share a project we selected and contributed to because it fully aligns with our values of ethical collaboration. It goes beyond scientific discovery by working with Indigenous communities and the fair sharing of research benefits.

Introduction

Prostratin is a naturally occurring compound with potential to help cure HIV. It was first found in Homalanthus nutans, a tree that grows in the rainforests of Samoa. For generations, Samoan healers have used this tree to treat illnesses like hepatitis. Today, it plays a key role in global research to eliminate hidden HIV in the body.

How the Discovery Began

The journey of prostratin began when ethnobotanist Dr. Paul Cox learned from Samoan healers about the medicinal value of Homalanthus nutans. Working with the U.S. National Cancer Institute, he helped isolate prostratin and study how it affects HIV.

Unlike standard HIV drugs that suppress the virus, prostratin can "wake up" hidden HIV, allowing the immune system or other treatments to target and eliminate it. This is known as the “shock and kill” approach.

What makes this case even more important is that it led to one of the first international agreements to share research benefits. Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a portion of future earnings from prostratin was promised to support healthcare and rainforest conservation in Samoa.

 

A New Research Collaboration - Computomics and the University of California

Building on this important work, Computomics partnered with the University of California, Berkeley to find a sustainable way to produce prostratin without harvesting large numbers of Homalanthus nutans trees.

Together, we focused on understanding how the tree makes prostratin. By analyzing the plant’s genome (its complete DNA blueprint) and how its genes work, we identified the key genes involved in making prostratin. This is the first step toward building a microbe-based production system, where engineered microbes can produce prostratin in the lab, making it more accessible, sustainable, and scalable.

Respecting Rights and Ensuring Fairness

Our project follows the Nagoya Protocol and Samoa’s own rules about genetic resources and knowledge. All our work was done with informed consent, and in full cooperation with the Samoan government and local communities. These agreements ensure that the people of Samoawho have protected and passed down this knowledge are respected and benefit from any outcomes of the research.

Looking Ahead

Combining traditional healing knowledge with modern science offers powerful new solutions. Our efforts to sustainably produce prostratin can contribute to global health goals while showing that ethical, respectful science is not just the right thing to do, it leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.

The path of prostratin—from a Samoan rainforest remedy to a cutting-edge HIV treatment strategy shows what’s possible when knowledge is shared and partnerships are built on trust. At Computomics, we believe innovation and respect go hand in hand. We hope this model of collaboration will inspire future projects in biodiversity research around the world.

Header image generated with AI
Rainforest Photo by Outward Bound Costa Rica on Unsplash