$Unique_ID{BRK01967} $Pretitle{} $Title{Origin of Medicines: From Plants or the Laboratory?} $Subject{Origin medicine Medicines medication medications plant Plants lab labs Laboratory laboratories source sources medicinal chemical chemicals Aspirin digitalis quinine taxol yew Pacific tree trees bark research researching researches researcher researchers drug drugs biochemical treat treating treatment treatments disease diseases illness illnesses sickness sicknesses nature natural naturally botany botanical Ethnobotany anthropology heal healing healers man men forest forests National Cancer cancers cancerous Institute institutes collect collection Collections Program programs Asia Africa} $Volume{} $Log{} Copyright (c) 1993 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Origin of Medicines: From Plants or the Laboratory? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ QUESTION: I am a high school student with a most interesting biology teacher, but I now have a problem. My teacher tells the class that all medicines now come from experiments in the laboratory. My father insists that all medicines come from plants. Who is right? I would like to know, so I can both respect my Father and make a good grade at school. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ANSWER: You have the right attitude, and now can learn an important lesson. Absolute statements (that use the words "all" or "none") are seldom completely correct. Both Dad and your teacher are right, but only to some extent, and neither person is totally correct. History shows that plants were the primary source of medicinal chemicals for centuries. Aspirin, digitalis (used for certain heart problems) and quinine (used to treat malaria) are but a few that you may be familiar with. Most recently, a new experimental drug (taxol) that could be used to treat cancer of the ovary was discovered in the bark of the Pacific yew tree. Although about 25 percent of the medical drugs now sold are derived from plants, laboratory research has taken priority during the last 20 years. New drugs can be created from scratch using biochemical techniques. Once the new formula has been found to be effective in treating diseases it can then be manufactured in large quantities. However, certain scientists still believe that many beneficial compounds remain to be discovered in plants. Of the estimated 265,000 plant species in the world, only 5 percent have been studied. There could be as many as 40,000 plants with naturally occurring chemicals that would be useful, according to some experts in botany. Today the science of Ethnobotany is the center of the focus of searching for new medicines in plants. Ethnobotany, combining anthropology (the study of mankind) and botany (the study of plants) considers how native healers use plants as medicine. This may develop into a race against time, as fewer young people follow in the footsteps of their tribal medicine men, and as the forests of this earth are destroyed. The National Cancer Institute now sponsors the Plant Collections Program, in cooperation with botanical institutes, that sends scientists into the tropics of Asia and Africa, searching for and collecting plants that may be the source of new medicines in the future. ---------------- The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician. Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.