The beginnings of pharmacognosy as a branch of science are claimed to have happened in the early 20th century in Europe, though there are written records of the use of natural materials for healing since antiquity in several places in the world. Whatever ‘science’ in the form of organized systematic knowledge that happened in the west is only considered as ‘Conventional Science’. Rest of human progress is categorized as ‘non-scientific’, ‘mythical belief systems’ or ‘superstition’ till experimentation proves otherwise.

Traditional medicine with its unprocessed plant drugs and other natural materials which at one time was dismissed as ‘non-scientific’ is today much sought after by the common man and the scientific community: the former as a safe alternative that heals more than it harms, the latter as another source of ‘newer’ weapons that will fight the scourge of rising global disease burden. In the course of this search many of the erstwhile unscientific methods are today accepted and accommodated within science, which itself is being redefined in order to have a fresh look at all forms of knowledge.

The study of pharmacognosy appears to be at the axis of the wheel of change that has happened in medical sciences during the last century. Because of numerous technological advancements, it is now riding the high tide of global acceptance with extensive investigation of several natural drugs and therapies like never before.

It is true that there continues to be a steady stream of new natural product-derived drugs introduced for the treatment of many common human diseases. It is said that there is ample potential for much greater utilization of natural product-derived compounds in the treatment or prophylaxis of major worldwide scourges such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis-C and tropical diseases (inclusive of lymphatic filariasis, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis). It is believed that the search for such agents may be enhanced by the availability of extensive libraries of taxonomically authenticated crude extracts of terrestrial and marine origin as well as pure SMs from microorganisms, plants and animals. This search could be better facilitated by technology-enabled options such as biocatalysis, combinatorial chemistry, combinatorial biogenesis, tissue culture and metabolic engineering. The high ‘drug-like’ ness of natural molecules bettered by such technically ingenious and expedient avenues by pharmacognosists are more likely to provide the much-needed newer drugs.

On the other hand as modern herbalists opine, transforming age-old drugs into ‘phytopharmaceuticals’ takes out the holistic, polyvalent or multidimensional approach of traditional medicine which is really its forte. What is needed is to evolve ways and means of looking at other forms of knowledge, such that these drugs become available to the populace in the form they were meant to be delivered. Such an effort requiring an interdisciplinary approach with innovative methods of assessment, the field of pharmacognosy is rapidly expanding in all possible directions.

Notwithstanding this the commercial aspects of the ethnopharmacological approach have aroused much controversy in recent years with regard to the intellectual property rights of the groups having the knowledge. Several international agreements, particularly the Rio Declaration and CBD of 1992 have concentrated on sharing with the source countries the benefits and profits that might arise from the development of new drugs based on ethnopharmacological leads. The effect that such measures might have on their patent rights and returns from investment have been considered closely by pharmaceutical companies and some have decided not to take the risks involved. Some other companies, however, have been willing to sign agreements aimed at sharing profits directly or making substantial payments to countries in exchange for access to their flora for testing purposes.

With the imminent threat to our natural resources, attempts at conserving our flora and fauna should be the immediate first step before aspiring to ‘mine’ for drugs of tomorrow from the disappearing wealth of our valuable plant resources.