Pharmacognosy in the 21st century

The term pharmacognosy as a constituent scientific discipline of pharmacy h as been in use for nearly 200 years, and it refers to studies on natural pr oduct drugs. During the last half of the 20(th) century, pharmacognosy evol ved from being a descriptive botanical subject to one having a more chemica l and biological focus. At the beginning of the 21(st) century, pharmacogno sy teaching in academic pharmacy institutions has been given new relevance, as a result of the explosive growth in the use of herbal remedies (phytome dicines) in modern pharmacy practice, particularly in western Europe and No rth America. In turn, pharmacognosy research areas are continuing to expand , and now include aspects of cell and molecular biology in relation to natu ral products, ethnobotany and phytotherapy, in addition to the more traditi onal analytical method development and phytochemistry. Examples are provide d in this review of promising bioactive compounds obtained in two multidisc iplinary natural product drug discovery projects, aimed at the elucidation of new plant-derived cancer chemotherapeutic agents and novel cancer chemop reventives, respectively. The systematic study of herbal remedies offers ph armacognosy groups an attractive new area of research, ranging from investi gating the biologically active principles of phytomedicines and their mode of action and potential drug interactions, to quality control, and involvem ent in clinical trials.