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1994-01-17
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$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?
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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.
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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.