Eisenberg et al. well as a lack of demonstration of plausible mechanisms and dosing effects. In short, clinical botanical investigations have suffered from the lack of a cohesive research strategy which draws on the expertise of all relevant specialties With this as background, US and Chinese co-investigators with expertise in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), botany, chemistry and drug discovery, have jointly established a prototype library consisting of 202 authenticated medicinal plant and fungal species that collectively represent the therapeutic content of the majority of all commonly prescribed TCM herbal prescriptions. Currently housed at Harvard University, the library consists of duplicate or triplicate kilogram quantities of each authenticated and processed species, as well as" detanninized"extracts and sub-fractions of each mother extract. Each species has been collected at 2-3 sites, each separated geographically by hundreds of miles, with precise GPS documentation, and authenticated visually and chemically prior to testing for heavy metals and/or pesticides contamination. An explicit decision process has been developed whereby samples with the least contamination were selected to undergo ethanol extraction and hplc sub-fractionation in preparation for high throughput screening across a broad array of biological targets including cancer biology targets. As envisioned, the subfractions in this artisan collection of authenticate medicinal plants will be tested for biological activity individually and in combinations (i.e complex mixtures")consistent with traditional ethnomedical practice This manuscript summarizes the rationale, methods and preliminary"proof of principle" for the establishment of this prototype, authenticated medicinal plant library. It is hoped that these methods will foster scientific discoveries with therapeutic potential and enhance efforts to systematically evaluate commonly used herbal therapies worldwide P9z Keywords Herbal medicine; Library; Traditional Chinese; Ethnomedicine 1 Introduction The topic of whether and how plant based medicines(aka herbal remedies) predictably alter the natural course of human disease has been an essential and complex aspect of medicine for thousands of years. By contrast, efforts to systematically apply modern scientific strategies to prove or disprove the therapeutic value of specific medicinal plant individually or in complex mixtures, and to optimize their rightful place in modern health care, represent a more recent trans-disciplinary challenge Focusing on Traditional Chinese Medicine (tCm), there was a singular moment in recent history when practitioners of TCM and advocates of modern western medicine were explicitly called upon to jointly learn from one another, teach one another and, in the process, attempt to generate new knowledge for the common good of the next generation The time was August 1950. The setting was the first National Health Congress of the newly 933 established People's Republic of China. Chairman Mao Ze Dong spoke on the occasion of the proposed establishment of the first five accredited schools of TCM and the need for collaboration disparate expert groups. " We should unite all the young and experienced medical professionals from both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Modern Western Medicine to form a firmly united front to jointly strive for a great enhancement of the peoples health [l]! "Mao s intention was clear and practical. He sought to proactively engage medical experts from both eastern and western traditions to jointly explore what he called "The Treasurehouse of fraditional chinese medicin ng its rich Authowell as a lack of demonstration of plausible mechanisms and dosing effects. In short, clinical botanical investigations have suffered from the lack of a cohesive research strategy which draws on the expertise of all relevant specialties. With this as background, US and Chinese co-investigators with expertise in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), botany, chemistry and drug discovery, have jointly established a prototype library consisting of 202 authenticated medicinal plant and fungal species that collectively represent the therapeutic content of the majority of all commonly prescribed TCM herbal prescriptions. Currently housed at Harvard University, the library consists of duplicate or triplicate kilogram quantities of each authenticated and processed species, as well as “detanninized” extracts and sub-fractions of each mother extract. Each species has been collected at 2–3 sites, each separated geographically by hundreds of miles, with precise GPS documentation, and authenticated visually and chemically prior to testing for heavy metals and/or pesticides contamination. An explicit decision process has been developed whereby samples with the least contamination were selected to undergo ethanol extraction and HPLC sub-fractionation in preparation for high throughput screening across a broad array of biological targets including cancer biology targets. As envisioned, the subfractions in this artisan collection of authenticated medicinal plants will be tested for biological activity individually and in combinations (i.e., “complex mixtures”) consistent with traditional ethnomedical practice. This manuscript summarizes the rationale, methods and preliminary “proof of principle” for the establishment of this prototype, authenticated medicinal plant library. It is hoped that these methods will foster scientific discoveries with therapeutic potential and enhance efforts to systematically evaluate commonly used herbal therapies worldwide. Keywords Herbal medicine; Library; Traditional Chinese; Ethnomedicine 1. Introduction The topic of whether and how plant based medicines (aka herbal remedies) predictably alter the natural course of human disease has been an essential and complex aspect of medicine for thousands of years. By contrast, efforts to systematically apply modern scientific strategies to prove or disprove the therapeutic value of specific medicinal plants, individually or in complex mixtures, and to optimize their rightful place in modern health care, represent a more recent trans-disciplinary challenge. Focusing on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there was a singular moment in recent history when practitioners of TCM and advocates of modern western medicine were explicitly called upon to jointly learn from one another, teach one another and, in the process, attempt to generate new knowledge for the common good of the next generation. The time was August 1950. The setting was the first National Health Congress of the newly established People’s Republic of China. Chairman Mao Ze Dong spoke on the occasion of the proposed establishment of the first five accredited schools of TCM and the need for collaboration across disparate expert groups. “We should unite all the young and experienced medical professionals from both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Modern Western Medicine to form a firmly united front to jointly strive for a great enhancement of the people’s health [1]!” Mao’s intention was clear and practical. He sought to proactively engage medical experts from both eastern and western traditions to jointly explore what he called “The Treasurehouse of Traditional Chinese Medicine,” including its rich pharmacopeia. Eisenberg et al. Page 2 Fitoterapia. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 January 1. NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript