BIO 5065 - Natural Medicine

Credits: 4

Natural medicines have been used for centuries in Persia, Asia, and Greece. Although the development of modern medicines has provided easy access to drugs and improved human health worldwide, the application of plant-based medicines is in demand due to their benefits and limited side effects. The course Natural Medicines (BIO5065) focuses on the application of plants in medicine. This course provides fundamental information about the history of natural medicine around the world, ethnobotany, plant driven medicines (phytomedicine), and phyto-biotechnology in producing plant-based drugs and vaccines for mental and physical health. This course helps students to make connections between the concept of ethnobotany, traditional medicines and modern pharmacology. This is a writing intensive course and designed to improve students’ writing and critical thinking in biological sciences. This course will help students understand the application of plants as natural medicines by focusing on the following questions:

- What can be considered as a phytomedicine?

- What are the limitations of phytomedicines?

- How can we apply modern techniques to improve phytomedicines?
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.