China News Service, Shanghai, September 23. Title: Greek scientist Ivita: Why is traditional Chinese medicine a treasure trove for modern drug development?

　　China News Agency reporter Zheng Yingying

　　Greek scientist Evangelos Tatsis chose to come to Shanghai five years ago to serve as the research group leader of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, to study the results of traditional Chinese medicine and improve the database of modern drug molecules.

Why didn't this Greek scientist come to China to do research and think that traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure trove for modern drug research and development?

In a recent exclusive interview with China News Agency "Question about East and West", he answered one by one.

Tribute to Tu Youyou, more modern medicines can be found in Chinese medicine

China News Agency reporter: China's first Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, Tu Youyou, a pharmacist, has been engaged in the research of traditional Chinese medicine and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine for many years, creating a new antimalarial drug artemisinin.

What do you think of her treasure hunt from Chinese medicine?

Avita:

As far as I know, Ms. Tu Youyou discovered a traditional Chinese medicine prescription for treating malaria from the ancient Chinese medicine prescription "Elbow Reserve Emergency Prescription".

This work can be traced back to the 3rd to 4th century AD.

Tu Youyou traced this prescription and found that the extract of Artemisia annua has anti-malarial effects.

　　From the thousand-year-old Chinese medicine writings, clues to the modern drug artemisinin were found, and artemisinin was later regarded as the first anti-malaria drug.

This process is amazing.

This also reflects that at any time, humans have the possibility of finding medicines from plants.

I think that more modern medicines can be found in Chinese medicine.

Data map: Tu Youyou, a lifetime researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, winner of the highest national science and technology award, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan

Researching the resources of Chinese medicine, it is not only medicines that can be found

Reporter from China News Service: Chinese medicine is guided by the theories of Chinese medicine, used to prevent, treat, and diagnose diseases, and has the effect of rehabilitation and health care.

Among them, most are botanicals, and there is a saying that "all medicines are based on grass".

Why did you choose to study Chinese medicine?

Avita:

Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure trove for mankind, because traditional Chinese medicine is a large system with extensive collection, scientific classification, detailed records of Chinese medicine resources, rich descriptions of treatments, and its effects on different diseases and its inapplicability. Detailed entry.

　　Looking deeply at Chinese medicines and these records, not only can medicines be discovered, but theoretically, Chinese medicines also have important implications for the development of modern medicines:

　　First of all, Western medicine advocates the use of a single ingredient to study its therapeutic effects and side effects; Chinese medicine advocates the use of multiple ingredients each time.

It can be seen that for the same disease, different drugs can be used to act on different parts of the body to achieve the overall curative effect.

Similar cases are called "cocktail drugs" (medicine with multiple ingredients).

If the effect of a single drug is not obvious, it may be possible to draw inspiration from traditional Chinese medicine to comprehensively extract multiple components that treat the same disease but have different effects, and develop a modern compound new drug.

Of course, this requires complex research and high investment.

　　Second, you can learn "customization" from Chinese medicine.

Many prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine are "tailor-made". This concept may affect the future of modern medicine and realize the customization of different prescriptions for individual patients.

Data map: Chinese pharmacists are busy preparing Chinese herbal medicines.

Photo by Yang Bo

Medicine knows no borders, human beings take the essence

China News Agency reporter: Traditional Chinese medicine is a diagnosis and treatment method based on thousands of years of clinical practice. The "Huangdi Nei Jing" written in the Warring States and Qin and Han Dynasties laid the foundation for Chinese medicine.

In 2018, the World Health Organization included TCM for the first time in its global influential medical compendium.

What do you think of the difference between Chinese and Western medicine?

Avita:

I don't want to define drug development in terms of region or culture, because at the end of biology, we are all just human beings, the same kind of organisms.

　　In my opinion, there is no difference between "traditional Chinese medicine" and "western medicine". The key lies in the difference between traditional medicine and modern medicine.

What we compare is the difference between traditional, empirical research methods and modern, more empirical scientific research, whether it is traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Greek medicine, or traditional Indian medicine.

　　Traditional Chinese medicine is a valuable asset to mankind.

In the future in China, if you can see traditional Chinese medicine elements appearing in modern medicines, the Chinese will also be very proud.

But in the future, it is not easy for the world to accept "Chinese medicine", not only about medicine, but also about the acceptance of culture.

Data map: In a traditional Chinese medicine store in Beijing, staff are preparing Chinese medicine.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu

Join an international team and hunt for treasures in Chinese medicine

China News Agency reporter: In 2014, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the John Innes Center signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly invest 12 million pounds within 5 years to establish the Chinese Academy of Sciences-UK John Innes Center for Plant and Microbiological Sciences Joint Research Center (CEPAMS) ).

CEPAMS released "hero posts" to the world, attracting top scientists from all over the world to join.

Why did you decide to come to Shanghai?

What do you use Chinese medicine to study specifically in China?

Avita:

China has developed rapidly in recent years.

I came to China to do scientific research for three reasons: First, I want to set up my own research group for practice. Some practices are easier to implement in China.

Second, China's scientific research has developed particularly well in recent years.

Third, China has a wide variety of plants and abundant research resources.

　　There are 10 people in our internationalization research group.

In addition to Chinese researchers, there are foreign researchers from Greece, Israel, Brazil, Portugal, and Poland.

　　The research group currently has two projects funded by the Shanghai Municipal Government.

When we cooperated with the John Inners Center in the United Kingdom, we discovered a molecule with anti-cancer effects, which may open new directions in the research and development of anti-cancer drugs in the future.

The application of this type of molecule has traces in traditional Chinese medicine, but no one has systematically studied its medicinal value.

　　In my impression, these plants only grow in China or other Asian countries.

Our research directions are twofold: one is to extract specific anti-cancer components from plants; the other is how to genetically use the plant to obtain more of these components.

I believe that in-depth research on "Chinese medicinal plants" will not only benefit China, but also the world.

Regardless of Greece and China, medical modernization benefits all mankind

China News Service: Both Greece and China are countries with a long history and culture. The medical system of ancient Western countries originated from ancient Greece.

Does Greece have its own traditional medicine, and how does it move toward modern internationalization?

Avita:

I come from Greece, an ancient civilization with a long history like China.

In ancient Greece, people were tortured by diseases and sought medicine from nature.

　　I think the best medicine comes from plants.

Since ancient times, plants have been used to treat basic diseases.

Whether in cultural history or religious beliefs, we can find traces of plant medicinal use.

　　Greece no longer distinguishes traditional medicine from modern medicine.

But many modern medicines we use are actually derived from plants or traditional medicines.

Greece and many countries will seek clues from ancient medical methods and traditional medicines to help modern medical treatment.

　　Greek traditional medicine does not have such a systematic classification of traditional Chinese medicine.

The advantage of Chinese medicine lies in its detailed records, classification system, and a large number of classics and prescriptions.

There are also abundant precious plants in China. I hope to study this "treasure house" and discover "potential drugs" from it.

　　We don't expect to start research today and produce results in a year.

This is a long process.

But in the long run, this kind of research will contribute to the future health of mankind. It will not only benefit the Chinese people, but also benefit people in Africa, the United States, Europe and other countries.

(over)

About the interviewee:

　　Avida, the research group leader of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is from Greece. He was supported by the Newton Advanced Scholars Fund of the Royal Society in 2019. He has made important contributions in elucidating and analyzing the metabolic pathways of the biosynthesis of natural products of traditional Chinese medicine. Published 18 papers in international journals such as "Nature-Communication".