Nowhere is the bioprospecting issue more contentious than in here in Hawai'i, the most biologically diverse state in the country and home to more than 22,000 species of plant and animal. Close to 9,000 of those species are found only here.

The patenting of the taro plants is just the latest dust-up between Hawaiians and UH.

Eduardo Trujillo, the researcher who developed the three disease-resistant strains and patented them, said his work saved the sacred plant from devastation. "The patents are intended to protect the new hybrid taro cultivars for exclusive use by our farmers," Trujillo said in an e-mail reply to questions from The Associated Press.

According to Hawaiian tradition, the cosmic first couple gave birth to a stillborn, Haloa, from whose gnarled body sprang the broad-leafed taro plant.

The Hawaiian people, it is believed, came from a second brother, making the taro plant part of a common ancestry.

"Our genealogy arises from the taro," said Hawaiian activist Mililani Trask. "The taro patents are a desecration."

Legislation in the Hawaii legislature to ban bioprospecting has stalled, though lawmakers are expected to soon release an inventory of all bioprospecting agreements that the University of Hawaii has with industry.