LEXINGTON, KY - A top University of Kentucky professor is leading a consortium of scientists from Michigan State, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Iowa State, the University of Mississippi, Purdue and Texas A&M in a $6 million hunt to know more about the medicinal uses of plants.
UK College of Agriculture professor of plant biochemistry Joseph Chappell is leading the team with a $6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the molecular genetics and biochemical potential of 14 common plants known for their ability to be used in medications.
"About 60 to 65 percent of all the drugs we currently use are derived from plants," Chappell said, adding that the potential benefit of such research is significant, both for saving lives and for financial gain.
"Our main goal is to capture the genetic blueprints of medicinal plants for the advancement of drug discovery and development," he said. "And at the same time we're getting genetic blueprints, we're trying to get chemical blueprints, preparing extracts of leaves, roots, stems, every part of the plants."
Funded through NIH and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, UK Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Nancy Cox, said "This is one of the largest grants to the college in several years."
Chappell and the other scientists expect that such detailed analysis of these plants will allow them to find some undiscovered beneficial components. "When a plant has such a capability, it likely has more [unknown] capability," he explained.
The scientists in the consortium also hope to find ways to make already-known components in these plants more effective. Even scientists who study other plants will find this much detailed botanical and genetic information useful in their research.
"We're unlocking a tremendous treasure trove of information that has not been available up to now." Chappell said. "We'll develop a new information resource and be able [to work further with it]."
In addition to coordinating the research from the other scientists, Chappell will obtain materials for the plants in the study. He will also continue his own research on the cardio-health benefiting plant foxglove.
Centuries ago herbalists steeped foxglove's leaves and stems into a tea for people with heart trouble. In modern times components of foxglove are made into digitalis and other drugs that act on the heart muscle.
Chappell's foxglove research means learning opportunities for UK's post doctoral fellows and graduate students who work in his lab. Undergraduates, especially those in the Biotech program with its research project requirement, will also participate.
Other scientists working with Chappell will study such plants as ginseng, periwinkle, yew, ginkgo, valeriana and hoodia. One of their initial problems will be choosing one cultivator to use as a comparative baseline. For example, the Purdue scientist who will be researching properties of rosemary has to select from the 51 different cultivators she has studied.
All of the research will be made public. New information will also be posted on the consortium's Web site http://www.medicinalplantgenomics.msu.edu.
"We can't sequester any of this information," Chappell said. "It's for the research community as a whole."
Even so, UK and the other participating universities will have a tremendous advantage. "We're so vested in the information, when you're actually dealing with it, you start to learn much more and sooner," Chappell explained.
UK has an extra advantage over other institutions in the project. "We have the College of Agriculture right next door, the College of Medicine and the College of Pharmacy close by," he said, noting that some of the other universities don't have colleges of medicine and/or pharmacy.
That proximity means that Chappell knows researchers in these UK colleges and they know him and his work. It's easy for them to meet and exchange ideas or visit each other's labs.
The high incidence of heart disease in Kentucky gives UK's doctors and pharmacists an incentive to follow Chappell's research on foxglove. "We'd love to create a new drug derivative for cardiac control," he said.
Chappell and his researchers have to finish their work by October 1, 2011. They had "a virtual glass of wine on the phone" to celebrate winning the grant, then got to work on the first stage of their project to be ready for their first all hands on deck meeting this coming spring.
"We know it's ambitious, but it's okay to be ambitious. It's high risk, with the potential of high payoffs," Chappell said.
And if that isn't enough incentive, there's the excitement of discovery. "It's kind of like turning over a moon rock," Chappell said. "You don't know what's under it because nobody's done this before."
"We are proud that Dr. Chappell is providing leadership for a national team of scientists, attesting to his recognized stature in the scientific community," said Nancy Cox, associate dean for Research and director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station. "This is one of the largest grants to the college in several years."