Ethnopharmacology in the 21st Century – Grand Challenges

One can argue forever what precise percentage of the world's population use local and traditional medicines. These herbal (or mineral or fungal or occasionally animal) medical products form systems of knowledge and practice that have been transmitted over centuries and which continuously change. However, there can be no doubt that the majority of humans either rely on such products (often due to lack of other alternatives) or that herbal medicines are chosen consciously as an alternative to mainstream medicine. In some cases this knowledge is documented in an extensive historical written body of scholarly and applied writings. Traditions like forms of European and Arabic medicine are well known examples. In other regions we rely on the efforts of researchers past and present to document such knowledge and to critically analyze the data. It is now a commonplace that such " traditional knowledge " is disappearing fast, but in fact it is simply changing under the pressures of a globalizing world. Frontiers in Ethnopharmacology is a worldwide, open access platform for bioscientific, clinical and sociocultural research on medicinal and food plants as well as other natural substances used throughout the world. This multidisciplinary approach is an essential basis for the use of these resources in tomorrow's medicines. Neglected diseases, including such common ones as vector-borne ones, diarrhea or tuberculosis are still commonly treated with herbal medicines. There is a growing use of plants to manage or treat AIDS/HIV or other emerging or fast spreading diseases (like viral respiratory diseases. Novel treatment strategies are needed for all diseases and in recent years herbal medicines from such traditions have received particular attention in the management (prevention or treatment) of chronic diseases like diabetes, chronic CNS disorders and many forms of cancer. Lastly, there are major gaps in our knowledge both about the general safety and the interaction potential of these medicines. A core challenge in pharmacology is the scientific study of the complex products derived from such traditions. Extracts obtained from plants, fungi or animals pose some unique challenges: they are multi-component mixtures of active, partially active and inactive substances and the activity is often not on a single target. Because of this complexity, extracts often vary and thus the pharmacological effects cannot always be reproduced. And they offer unique opportunities. The structural diversity and chemical complexity of natural products is unbeaten. In areas like anti-cancer and anti-parasitic medications as well as in …