An estimated 25 percent of U.S. prescription drugs contain natural plant materials, many of which were known to indigenous people or were part of folk cultures. Many of the genetic resources used to improve agricultural crops come from farmers' fields in less-developed countries. Often, the indigenous peoples who discovered these attributes get no credit, while commercial drug and seed companies attach intellectual property rights to the products, says Stephen Brush, UC Davis professor of applied behavioral sciences. Building on the 1992 global biodiversity treaty, proposals to create such intellectual property rights for indigenous peoples will be discussed at an upcoming conference sponsored by UC Davis and funded by the National Science Foundation on Oct. 5-10 at the Granlibakken Conference Center at Lake Tahoe.