Lexington, KY - Joseph Chappell, professor of plant biochemistry in the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture, heads a consortium of researchers who recently received 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 medicinal use.
"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."
Chappell's team includes scientists from Michigan State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Iowa State University, University of Mississippi, Purdue University and Texas A & M University. The grant they received is funded through NIH by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The potential benefit of such research is significant, both for saving lives and for financial gain. Chappell said that "about 60 to 65 percent of all the drugs we currently use are derived from plants."
"Our main goal is to capture the genetic blueprints of medicinal plants for the advancement of drug discovery and development," Chappell explained. "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."
Chappell and the other scientists expect that such detailed analysis of these plants will allow them to find some heretofore 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 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 cultivar 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 cultivars she has studied.
All of the research will be made public. New information will also be posted on the consortium's Web site, 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 concluded.
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."