Plant, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Molecular Plant Breeding

Plants synthesise hundreds of chemical compounds for functions including defence against insects, fungi, diseases and herbivores mammals. These plants have been termed as Medicinal Plants or medicinal herbs. It has been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times.  According to World Health Organization (WHO), about 70 per cent of the world’s population relies on plants for their primary health care and some 35,000 to 70,000 species have been used as medicaments, a figure corresponding to 14-28% of the 250,000 plants species estimated to occur around the world and equivalent to 35-70% of all species used worldwide. In today’s global market, more than 50 major drugs originated from tropical plants.