Biotechnology Turns To Ancient Remedies In Quest For Sources Of New Therapies

Sidebar: For Further Information - Alternative Medicine With consumer interest in "natural" remedies on the rise, some academic and corporate researchers have begun to look for new drugs among ancient remedies. Several such efforts focus on the rich, detailed pharmacopoeia of Chinese herbal medicine, which has been painstakingly recorded and passed on for generations. In contemporary China-as in much of the world-herbal concoctions remain the predominant form of medication. In the hands of West

Alison Mack

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Sidebar: For Further Information - Alternative Medicine

BUDDING PROMISE: Sylvia Lee-Huang and colleagues have identified molecular mechanisms by which a protein derived from bitter melon, shown here, may act to suppress HIV infection.

These projects, though still in their infancy, grew out of the pharmaceutical industry's longtime practice of seeking drug leads in plants. Some of the many plant-based medicines include digitalis, from foxglove, used to treat congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias; pseudoephedrine, from the Chinese herb ma huang (Ephedra spp.), a decongestant; and anticancer drugs vinblastine and vincristine, from the myrtle, Vinca rosea. Botanical compounds also provide leads for the development of synthetic pharmaceuticals.

Only a handful of biotech and pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers are pursing the development of therapeutics from Chinese herbal medicine. But some researchers in the field see great potential for its growth.

"Scientists have only been able to exhaustively examine approximately one-half of ...

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