The prospective for using molecular approaches in conservation and traditio
nal biological studies is reviewed. The focus is on the methods of allozyme
analysis and the polymerase chain reaction with random primers (randomly a
mplified polymorphisms of DNA) used to study genome polymorphism and geneti
c structure in the populations of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer and to tag the s
pecies in the genus Iris. The feasibility of these approaches; is discussed
, in the context of developing a strategy for conservation and the reintrod
uction of the rare and vanishing plant species.