Figure 1.

Schematic representation of the global and interdisciplinary nature of our proposal. Names of the selected research subjects to be included in our consortium are indicated over the globe/map of the world in the shape of 'Tao', with disciplines being distributed according to their relation to each other, in the context of our initiative, to form two large interconnected groups 'Global South' and 'Global North', characteristic by overall tendency to 'biodiversity and traditional knowledge' and 'technology and modern knowledge', respectively. The metaphorical relation to the ancient and modern Chinese symbol of 'Tao' is demonstrating the holistic or 'non-dualistic' approach to the solution to biodiversity and biomedicine problems, requiring acknowledgement and cooperation of bigger scientific community in order to promote mutually beneficial co-existence of humankind with other species.