Old Remedies, New Ground

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday September 1, 2007

Yvette Nielsen

Joshua smith PHD in Biology,

University of New England

Australia's geographic isolation, along with improving methods in medicinal plant research, offers a promising future for the study of native flora as a source for new bioactive agents.

Joshua Smith is involved in ethnopharmacological studies of indigenous medicinal plants as part of his PhD in biology through the University of New England at Armidale.

Smith's research is an extension of his honours project and he has been awarded a scholarship to study at King's College in London.

Plants have been used to create drugs such as morphine, codeine and opium for hundreds of years but the research process can be difficult and labour intensive. It also requires a co-ordinated, multi-disciplinary approach across botany, chemistry, pharmacology, medicine and anthropology.

"What we do is use the information provided by indigenous people and the ethno-botanic literature," Smith says.

"So say something was used for aching joints, one might infer it could have an anti-inflammatory effect or analgesic, pain-killing effect - and you might decide to test for that."

Smith has already isolated compounds in one highly potent plant - Eremophila duttonii - along with an essential oil of potential value to the flavour and

fragrance industry.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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