Podcasts · Instant Genius

Why the new era of life-saving drugs starts with plants

· 34 min · S1 E407

Episode Why the new era of life-saving drugs starts with plants

0:00 34:09

Chances are that if you open your bathroom cabinet, many of the medicines you find there were first discovered by studying the chemical processes of the plants that grow all around us. But with 450,000 plant species existing in the world, the truth is that we’re only just scratching the surface of this almost limitless resource.

In this episode, we’re joined by Prof Anne Osbourn, a group leader in biosynthesis research based at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, and co-founder of drug discovery platform HotHouse Therapeutics.

She tells us about the long history we humans have of making use of the medicinal properties found in plants, how technological developments over the last several decades have enabled us to identify the genes and naturally occurring processes in plants that we can harness to produce life-saving drugs, and how artificial intelligence shows great promise in our search for new, innovative medicines.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.