Shrinking tropical rainforests mean the drugs lost of their plants remain undiscovered.

Growing up in Tanzania, I knew that fruit trees were useful. Climbing a mango tree to select fruit once I was hungry was a typical practice, although sometimes it had unintended consequences. For example, my inability to withstand eating unripe fruit led to stomach aches. With such frequent occurrences, it was helpful to learn from my mother that eating the leaves of a certain plant helped ease my stomach pain.

This lesson helped me appreciate the medicinal value of plants. However, I saw my family and neighboring farmers clearing the land by cutting down and burning unnecessary trees and bushes, apparently unaware of their medicinal value, to make room for food crops. .

But this lack of appreciation for the medicinal value of plants extends beyond my childhood community. As Fires continue to burn in the Amazon. And as land is cleared for agriculture, most concerns have focused on the reduction in global oxygen production if parts of the forests disappear. But I also worry concerning the lack of potential medicines that abound in forests and have yet to be discovered. Plants and humans also share many genes, so it could be possible to check different drugs in plants, providing a brand new strategy for drug testing.

As a plant physiologistI'm Interested in plant biodiversity. Because of its ability to supply more resilient and nutritious crops. I'm also involved in plant biodiversity for this reason. Contribution to human health. About 80 percent of the world's population Relies on plant-derived compounds for medicine. For the treatment of various diseasesAs Malaria And Cancerand to do Suppress the pain.

Medicines of the long run may come from plants.

One of the most important challenges in fighting diseases is the emergence of drug resistance that renders treatment ineffective. Doctors have observed drug resistance. In the fight against malaria, Cancer, Tuberculosis And Fungal infection. It is probably going that drug resistance will emerge with other diseases, prompting researchers to explore New drugs.

Plants are a wealthy source of latest and diverse compounds that will prove to have medicinal properties or function constructing blocks for them. New drugs. And since tropical rainforests are the biggest reservoir of plant species diversity, conservation of biodiversity in tropical forests is essential. Medicines of the future.

Plants and recent cholesterol-lowering drugs

My own research goals to know how Plants regulate the production of biochemical compounds called sterols.. Humans produce a sterol, called cholesterol, which has functions including the formation of testosterone and progesterone – hormones essential for normal body function. In contrast, plants produce quite a lot of sterols, including sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and cholesterol. These sterols are used for plant growth and defense against stress, but additionally act as Precursors of medicinal compounds As present in the Indian Ayurvedic medicinal plant, Ashwagandha.

Humans produce cholesterol through a string of genes, and Some of these genes make proteins. Which is the goal Medicines to treat high cholesterol. Plants also use this combination of genes. to make their sterols. In fact, the sterol production systems in plants and humans are so similar that drugs used to treat high cholesterol in people also block sterol production in plant cells.

I'm fascinated by the similarities between the mechanisms by which humans and plants make sterols, because identifying recent drugs that inhibit sterol production in plants may lead to drugs to treat high cholesterol in humans.

New drugs for chronic and epidemic diseases

An example of a gene with clinical implications that exists in each plants and humans is NPC1, which regulates cholesterol transport. However, there's also a protein made by the NPC1 gene The door through which the Ebola virus enters. Affects cells. Because Plants have the NPC1 gene.they represent a possible system for developing and testing recent drugs to forestall Ebola.

This will include the identification of latest chemical compounds that interfere. Plant NPC1. This may be done by extracting chemical compounds from plants and testing whether or not they can effectively prevent the Ebola virus from infecting cells.

There are many conditions that may profit from plant research, including: Cholesterol increase, Cancer And even infectious diseases Like EbolaAll of them have significant global impact. To treat high cholesterol, Statin drugs is used. Statins can also help fight cancer.. However, not all patients Tolerates statins, which means alternative therapy must be prepared.

Tropical rain forests are reservoirs of drugs.

New drugs are needed. Fight heart disease and cancer. is serious. generally is a wealthy and varied source of chemicals. Found in natural plant products.. With knowledge of the genes and enzymes that make medicinal compounds in native plant species, scientists can apply genetic engineering methods. To increase their production in a sustainable way.

Home to tropical rainforests Wide biodiversity of plantsBut this diversity faces significant challenges. Threats from human activities.

To help students in my genetics and biotechnology class understand the worth of plants in medical research, I check with these findings. My research on plant sterols. My goal is to assist them recognize that many cellular processes are similar between plants and humans. My hope is that, by learning that plants and animals share the identical genes and metabolic pathways with health implications, my students will value plants as a source of drugs and the conservation of plant biodiversity. might be a supporter of

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