Transcript Medical Plants/Enthobotany/ Traditional Medicne

Medical Plants/Enthobotany/
Traditional Medicne
Mary Mulcahy
Joyce V. Cadwallader
BioQUEST 2008
Goals--JVC
Develop an interdisciplinary course on
Medicinal
Plants/Enthnobotany/Traditional
Medicine
Met general studies guideline of having
two perspective involved in the class
Science (Biology)
Social Science (Culture)
Goals--Mary
TITLE: Ethnobotany as a Hook to Generate
Interest in Plant Research
Major Purpose of this Exercise:
To demonstrate to students through investigative,
fun exercises the value of botanical knowledge &
skills* in the discovery of new medicines.
Goals--Mary
*Partial definition of botanical knowledge &
skills:
-how to identify plants in the field
-how to construct and understand laboratory tests
for biological active compounds in plants
-how to comprehend the binomial classification
system
-how to interpret evolutionary relationships among
plants
Goals--Mary
-how to reconstruct phylogenies of plants
-how to describe the morphology of plants
-how to interpret molecular data on plants
-how people (including indigenous people,
healers, shaman, and others) use plants
Objectives for course--JVC
To understand the importance of plants
materials as basis of therapy
To understand the indigenous people’s
dependence on natural remedies
To increase awareness of the plant materials
already in use as medicines
To investigate the cultural aspects of plants
used as medicine.
To be able to identify, classify, preserve, and
describe, research and investigate plant
materials
Introduction
The introduction to the course(s) would start
with the documentary film, The Shaman’s
Apprentice.
After the film, discussion of the film will take
place.
Readings will be provided for different class
periods and a selection of the following
activities will be incorporated in the class.
Activities
Activity #1: Searching for biologically active
compounds in plants
Activity #2: Case Study to Search for Bioactive
Chemicals in a Simulated Plant Flora.
Activity #3:. Plant Diversity in Human
Medicine
Activities (continued)
Activity #4: Develop questionnaire to survey
people about what they know about medicinal
plants.
Activity #5: Collect, process, and mount an
herbarium specimen of a plant on campus that
has medicinal properties.
Activities continued
Activity #6: Student becomes expert in one traditional
medicine and give a presentation on it which would
include: picture and description of plant, uses,
geographical distribution, active ingredients if known,
and current status of research on the plants
medicinal properties.
Activity #7: Case Study:
Indian Paintbrush
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile
?symbol=cast12
Case Study
It is 1916 in Kenya, East Africa. You
have returned from delivering supplies
to your husband and friends who are
the forces (mainly English) who are
fighting the German. You start to
develop symptoms where you lose your
balance and fall. You remember having
a ….
Assessment
Depending on the goals, i.e., which course,
the assessments will differ.
For the Medicinal Plants course, one of the
assessment is a college-wide assessment
which must deal with a controversial issue
which is explored from the two perspectives,
science and social science--which will
probably mean that economics of saving the
plants will be involved.
References
Balick, M. and Cox, P. (1996) Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of
Ethnobotany. New York, N.Y.: Sceintific American Library.
Cherry, L. and Plotkin, M. 1998. The Shaman’s Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain
Forest. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.
Ekunsanmi, Toye J. 2005. A Classroom Demonstration of Garlic Extract and
Conventional Antibiotics' Antimicrobial Activity. Bioscene Vol. 31(Issue 3): pp. 4-9.
Available at: http://acube.org/volume_31/v31-3p4-9.pdf
Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline. 1995. Edited by R. E. Schultes and S. von Reis.
Portland, OR: Dioscordies Press.
Procheş, Şerban; Wilson, John R.U.; Vamosi, Jana C.; Richardson, David M. 2008.
Plant Diversity in the Human Diet: Weak Phylogenetic Signal Indicates Breadth.
BioScience Vol. 58 (Number 2), pp. 151-159.
References
Simpson, B. and Conner, M. 1995. Economic Botany: Plants in Our World.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
The Shaman’s Apprentice. 2001. Narrated by Susan Saradon. Miranda Smith
Productions.