Ok, I don't know what this all means, or if it means that I am just watching out for Bird-Flu stories, but there is more good news!
During the last avian flu outbreak, the bottleneck for producing Tamiflu was a shortage of star anise (which contains a precursor required for the production of Tamiflu). Researchers have found that pine and spruce needles contain the same precursor and that it is easily extracted.
Reference: L. N. Gedivinne et al. Foliage extracts of conifers as potential sources for isolation of shikimic and quinic acids, precursors to Tamiflu. American Chemical Society fall meeting, Boston, August 26, 2010.
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