UK work sheds new light on medicinal benefits of plants

LEXINGTON, Ky., (Dec 15, 2011) Scientists at the University of Kentucky , together with colleagues at a number of other institutions around the country and the world, have developed new resources poised to unlock yet another door in the hidden garden of medicinally important compounds found in plants. 

The resources were developed by the Medicinal Plant Consortium (MPC) led by Joe Chappell, professor of plant biochemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. They grew out of a $6 million initiative from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how the genes of plants contribute to production of various chemical compounds, some of which are medicinally important.

"Our major goal in this project has been to capture the genetic blueprints of medicinal plants for the advancement of drug discovery and development," said Chappell, project coordinator for the MPC.

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Contact: Carl Nathe, 859-257-3200

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