Science Fact Finder | Health and Medicine - How Many Of The Medications Used Today Are Derived From Plants?

How many of the medications used today are derived from plants?

Of the more than 250,000 known plant species, less than 1 percent have been thoroughly tested for medical applications. Surprisingly, 25 percent of our prescription medicines come from this tiny portion of tested plants.

The United States National Cancer Institute has identified 3,000 plants from which anticancer drugs are or can be made. This list includes ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Asian mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum), western yew (Taxus brevifolia), and rosy periwinkle (Vinca rosea). Rain forests supply 70 percent of these 3,000 plants.

Rain forest plants are rich in so-called secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids—substances that biochemists believe are produced by the plants to guard against disease and insect attack. However, due to ongoing rain forest destruction, raw materials...

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