What is "bioprospecting"?

The correct answer is Option (3) → Searching for economically valuable products in biodiversity

Bioprospecting means exploring biodiversity for products of economic importance. The search is made at the molecular, genetic and species levels. More than 25 per cent of the drugs sold in the world come from plants, and many more useful plants may still be found in tropical rain forests. So nations rich in biodiversity can expect large benefits from bioprospecting. It is part of the narrowly utilitarian argument for conserving biodiversity.

NCERT Extract:
Why Should We Conserve Biodiversity? – “… Nobody knows how many more medicinally useful plants there are in tropical rain forests waiting to be explored. With increasing resources put into ‘bioprospecting’ (exploring molecular, genetic and species-level diversity for products of economic importance), nations endowed with rich biodiversity can expect to reap enormous benefits.”