Economically, it makes good sense to protect the rich biological diversity we inherited from our forebears. "From morning coffee to evening nightcap," writes Myers, "We benefit in our daily lifestyles from the fellow species that share our One Earth home." Without knowing it, we utilize hundreds of products each day that owe their origins to wild animals and plants. Indeed our welfare is intimately tied up with the welfare of wildlife. The economic benefits of the wild resources are enormous. By some estimates, for example, half of all prescription and nonprescription drugs are made with chemicals that came from wild plants. The commercial value of these drugs is around $20 billion per year in the United States and about $40 billion worldwide. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that each year genes bred into commercial crops yield over $1 billion worth of food. Similar gains can be documented for other major agricultural nations. About half of the increased productivity in corn over the last 50 years has resulted from "genetic transfusions" from wild relatives of corn or from corn' s early ancestors grown now only in isolated regions. Plants and animals lost before they can be explored for possible benefits will diminish our opportunities to fight disease and increase productivity. A dozen regions located in the tropics and subtropics are the sources of virtually all commercially valuable plants and animals. They provide a reservoir of genetic material essential for the battle to fight disease, drought, and insects. Their loss would be a global tragedy with far-reaching effects on the food supply.