Methodology Study Objects

2.3 Study Objects

2.3.1 “Dao di” Medicinal Materials

Generally speaking, “dao di” medicinal materials are the genuine articles, the “real McCoy,” and the “geo-authentic” medicinal materials with Chinese characteristic and good quality in clinical effect. The concept of “dao di” has a long history of significance in Chinese medicine, and it is essential to preserve this rich, clinically relevant information. A good diagnosis is nearly useless if one uses poor quality herbs. The biological meaning of “Dao di” medicinal materials refers to the same species of medicinal plants from differences areas. That is to say, a certain subunit of a species of medicinal plants with similar ecological structure character from different region forms the populations. Among the populations, if one of them yields good quality of medicinal material with superior clinical effects, we call them as “dao di” herbs or “dao di” medicinal materials and the correct geographic region is called as “dao di” (geo-authentic) region. Therefore, “dao” means the botanical species of a particular population. It should be the formation of the interaction between genotype and environmental factors and can be expressed as: phenotype = genotype + environmental modification.

An investigation found that when a species has a wider distribution area, its subunit of population from different regions often display different genotypes, or called local specialized genotype, and these genotypes are due to different ecological or geographical conditions shaped by long-term section. That is the genetic nature of “dao.” So to speak, the connotation of molecular pharmacognosy is to study the difference of genetic material of DNA in similar medicinal materials and identify the genuine and false term, the superior and inferior term of them [ 1 ] .

2.3.2 Tissue Culture

Use of genetically modified organisms (microorganisms, plant tissue culture) as a bioreactor to produce the exogenous gene-encoding products is one of the most attractive areas in genetic engineering, which is called “new generation of pharmaceutical factory.” It also has challenges and dif fi culties for the study of molecular pharmacognosy to produce drugs by application of transgenic plants.

Hairy root culture technology developed in the last century has opened up a new way for the study of secondary metabolites biosynthesis, functional gene cloning, and regulation of secondary metabolism and R&D of new active pharmaceutical ingredients. So it has become a hot spot for pharmaceutical ingredients production through enhancement of secondary metabolites’ accumulation by genetically modifying and regulating methods [ 1 ] .

2.3.3 Animal Medicinal Materials

A great majority of Chinese medicinal materials originate from either plant or animal sources. Animal medicinal materials mainly include the animal’s fur, skin, horns, and bones and insects’ body. The challenge of correct identification for animal medicinal materials is compounded by substitutions and unscrupulous adulterations. The traditional phenotypic identi fi cation often encounters difficulties in animal materials. The recently developed DNA analysis becomes an important tool to complement organoleptic, morphological, anatomical, and chemical parameters.

With the development of molecular markers, like the wide array of sequences and patterns in the genomic, chloroplast, and mitochondrial DNA, especially for the COI gene widely used in animal material marking, the animal material identification problem will be more and more easy to be solved [ 39 ]. The molecular markers for snake identification written into Chinese State Pharmacopeia (2010 edition) is thought to be a milestone in the development history of identification of pharmacognosy.

Therefore, it is the major advantage of molecular pharmacognosy to solve the problem of animal identification.