Ethnomedicine and Drug Discovery

The emergence of new infectious, chronic and drug resistant diseases have prompted scientists to look towards medicinal plants as agents for treatment and prevention. This book provides an interphase between ethnomedical and ethnobotanical approaches to new drug discovery and advances in biotechnology and molecular science that has made it increasingly feasible to transform traditional medicines into modern drugs. These novel approaches also raise new issues and the volume explores economic, ethical and policy considerations of drug development based on indigenous knowledge or traditional medicine. This work also features standardization and development of phytomedicines for major therapeutic indications, including emerging infectious diseases affecting developing and developed countries. The publication provides state-of-the-art information on the most innovative science, the research, the industry, the market, and the future of ethnomedicine and drug discovery.