Towards new frontiers with modern technologies

What are medicinal plants? Why do they work? Can modern scientific methods and indigenous knowledge work together in identifying and using them? What is the path from a medicinal plant to a commercially available compound?

And how can we protect South Africa's botanical heritage from overexploitation and ensure its conservation?

In South Africa, traditional medicines provide a health system that is relevant for a large percentage of the population. Furthermore, medicinal plants are an important income source for those who collect and trade plants for various plant-based pharmaceutical industries.

Having developed within a hyper-diverse floral region, the various practices for utilisation of medicinal plants have led to a wide range of ethnic pharmacopeias which are uniquely South African in character. There is certainly enormous scope for this traditional knowledge to lead to commercial cures, and contribute both to human health at the global level as well as to the bioeconomy of South Africa.

In tonight's session of Science & Cocktails, Nox Makunga will explain, through several examples, how her group at the University of Stellenbosch applies high-end functional genomics technologies to better understand the molecular mechanisms governing the synthesis of secondary compounds in medicinal plants. She will argue that this approach adds value to local flora which are intimately linked with traditional plant knowledge, but will also discuss the challenges ahead, as these technologies have not yet been broadly applied to non-model species with complex genomes.

She will also emphasise the need to respect the knowledge systems that have led to identification of these plants and the importance of preserving the fragile ecosystems that support them, as one moves towards commercialisation and further exploitation of traditional medicines.

Afterwards, medicinal cocktails at the bar to the soulful and healing sounds of Phumelele and the Light.

Image: Artemisia afra (Wikimedia Commons)