Herbal hunt

council for Scientific and Industrial Research (csir) and Kottakkal-based Aarya Vaidhya Shala (avs) will jointly develop drug molecules from tradi-tional ayurvedic medicines. This will be the first commercial attempt to search for sources of new allopathic drugs from Ayurveda. Previous attempts have been at the laboratory level and success have been very few.

According to R A Mashelkar, director general of csir , the collaboration will help develop viable bioactive molecules, establish standard procedures, and improve processing and preserving techniques. For treating patients, avs mainly relies on age-old medicine production practices.Now, csir will help infuse modern scientific inputs so that the production practices are standardised and the finished products have a longer shelf life than at present.

The research organisation will also assist avs in developing appropriate agrotechnologies for growing medical plants. avs sources its raw material from forest areas.