Therapeutic Compounds from Weeds

Since the formation of the National Health Service in 1945, pharmaceuticals have replaced once-common herbal remedies in Great Britain. A group of RBG Kew scientists is re-examining plants traditionally used as therapeutic remedies to potentially discover compounds for new medicines.

The Ethnomedica project, or “Remembered Remedies”, studies literature on the customary preparation of British plant remedies to determine a) which plants to research and b) when the plants are at highest potency (potency of plant compounds vary during the season).

Link: Garden weeds could combat cancer from BBC News

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:56 PM on October 11, 2004

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