WEBVTT - Curious cures and mysterious medicines 0:00:05.769 --> 0:00:11.899 December 7th, 1941, a surprise Japanese aerial attack on the 0:00:11.899 --> 0:00:16.329 American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii initiated the 0:00:16.329 --> 0:00:19.929 formal entry of the United States into the second World 0:00:19.930 --> 0:00:27.690 War. Thousands were killed. The damage was extensive. In addition 0:00:27.690 --> 0:00:30.580 to those that died that day, the Pearl Harbor attack 0:00:30.580 --> 0:00:33.320 led to a far greater loss of life amongst the 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.889 Allied forces. Since the start of the war, malaria had 0:00:37.890 --> 0:00:41.909 ravaged forces stationed in the West Indies. Only held at 0:00:41.909 --> 0:00:45.159 Bay by a wonder drug from the Dutch East Indies 0:00:45.430 --> 0:00:50.529 modern day, Indonesia. The source of this plantations of the 0:00:50.530 --> 0:00:54.279 humble Cinchona tree on the Island of Java, where 90% of 0:00:54.279 --> 0:00:59.630 the world's Quinine was sourced. Demand for this plant based 0:00:59.630 --> 0:01:04.069 malaria cure roared during wartime. But by crippling the Allied 0:01:04.069 --> 0:01:07.240 defense through the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the capturing 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.610 of Singapore, there was nothing to stop the Japanese from 0:01:10.610 --> 0:01:14.250 taking Java and cutting off supplies to their enemies in 0:01:14.250 --> 0:01:18.470 the West In the effort to acquire the island's rich 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.410 oil fields, Japan also denied its opponents one of the 0:01:22.410 --> 0:01:26.780 most crucial medicines in human history, and scientists were forced 0:01:26.780 --> 0:01:29.759 to seek out an alternative to the substance that had 0:01:29.810 --> 0:01:34.160 enabled Western colonization of the tropics for centuries. 0:01:34.390 --> 0:01:39.009 Cinchona has been called a tool of imperialism and that's 0:01:39.009 --> 0:01:43.110 because Quinine, which is the active antimalarial chemical found in 0:01:43.110 --> 0:01:46.830 the bark, was so important for empire, particularly across 18th and 0:01:46.940 --> 0:01:47.970 19th century. 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.499 Today, we find out how plants and medicines have changed 0:01:51.500 --> 0:01:55.470 the fortunes of nations, and their roots from forest to 0:01:55.470 --> 0:02:00.600 pharmacy throughout history. We'll hear how the hunger for cures 0:02:00.820 --> 0:02:05.809 has transformed landscapes, seen powers rise and fall, and altered 0:02:05.809 --> 0:02:07.350 human history forever. 0:02:07.940 --> 0:02:10.810 Quinine started to gain extra significance for them. So to 0:02:10.810 --> 0:02:13.840 be able to control the quality and quantity of supply 0:02:14.210 --> 0:02:18.169 became very important. Plantations started to be grown in British India and 0:02:18.169 --> 0:02:18.990 Dutch Indonesia. 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.980 And we'll hear what we can learn and how lives 0:02:21.980 --> 0:02:25.389 can be saved in the search for modern day medicines. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.010 Plants are actually brilliant chemists. 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:32.730 I'm James Wong, and welcome to Unearth Mysteries from an 0:02:32.730 --> 0:02:42.260 unseen world from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Today, I'm finding 0:02:42.269 --> 0:02:45.549 out how one kind of tree changed the course of 0:02:45.549 --> 0:02:50.320 world history. The cinchona tree is native to South America. 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:54.680 Myth has it that in 1630, the Spanish Countess of Chinchon 0:02:55.620 --> 0:02:59.690 visited Peru and fell ill with a fever. The substance 0:02:59.690 --> 0:03:03.530 given to cure her was the bark of cinchona, which we now 0:03:03.530 --> 0:03:07.930 know contains many useful substances, only one of which is 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:12.639 Quinine. And whilst the real story of how cinchona's healing 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:16.679 properties first made it into medicine, remains a mystery, there 0:03:16.679 --> 0:03:19.899 are plenty of clues to help us piece together some 0:03:19.899 --> 0:03:24.519 of that history. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has one 0:03:24.519 --> 0:03:27.829 of the largest collections of cinchona bark in addition to 0:03:27.850 --> 0:03:31.570 Herbarium specimens and a wealth of historical records from the 0:03:31.570 --> 0:03:36.920 19th century when Quinine was transported around the world. It's this 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.300 archive that makes Kew, so compelling for my first guest. 0:03:40.900 --> 0:03:44.290 I'm Kim Walker, and I am a PhD student at 0:03:44.290 --> 0:03:46.550 Kew. And I work in the Economic Botany Department and 0:03:46.550 --> 0:03:49.730 I study that collection of cinchona bark. It does sound 0:03:49.730 --> 0:03:52.850 a bit dry, doesn't it studying bark? But actually if 0:03:52.850 --> 0:03:54.570 you're going to pick a bark, this is probably one 0:03:54.570 --> 0:03:59.040 of the most interesting ones in history. Cinchona bark contains 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.420 Quinine which for over 300 years was the only known 0:04:02.570 --> 0:04:06.619 malaria treatment in Europe. And also is the flavoring in 0:04:06.619 --> 0:04:09.190 everybody's favorite cocktail, the gin and tonic, because it is 0:04:09.190 --> 0:04:10.040 the flavoring and tonic water. 0:04:11.610 --> 0:04:14.950 When we talk about malaria, it's quite difficult to picture a world 0:04:15.390 --> 0:04:20.440 before cinchona bark was in existence, because malaria wasn't something that was just found in 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:21.299 remote location. 0:04:21.779 --> 0:04:25.189 Yeah, absolutely. So it's just slightly out of living memory 0:04:25.190 --> 0:04:27.870 now. So not many people realize that we used to have 0:04:27.930 --> 0:04:31.310 malaria and Britain all the way up to the first World War. 0:04:31.700 --> 0:04:34.750 So tell me about the history of cinchona bark. How 0:04:34.750 --> 0:04:36.970 do we know that it contains Quinine and that that's 0:04:37.659 --> 0:04:39.170 an effective treatment for malaria? 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:44.419 That's a really interesting question because when the Spanish entered South 0:04:44.419 --> 0:04:47.830 America, which is where cinchona comes from originally, across the 0:04:47.830 --> 0:04:52.010 Eastern slopes of the Andes, before this period, malaria, or 0:04:52.010 --> 0:04:54.219 at least a very severe forms of malaria didn't exist. 0:04:54.529 --> 0:04:57.520 So as the Spanish come in, bringing malaria with them, 0:04:57.700 --> 0:05:00.979 and Cinchona trees already grow South America is not very 0:05:00.979 --> 0:05:05.870 clear who or when somebody connected that cinchona bark kills 0:05:05.870 --> 0:05:09.650 malaria. But it's likely that it would have been indigenous healers, had 0:05:09.650 --> 0:05:14.000 really superior knowledge of local botanics and healing. And so 0:05:14.010 --> 0:05:16.779 at the (inaudible) , as it were, where new diseases were 0:05:16.779 --> 0:05:20.270 entering the country and cinchona may have already been in 0:05:20.270 --> 0:05:22.000 use for other things, they would have put two and 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.950 two together and found the treatment. We do know that 0:05:24.950 --> 0:05:29.570 was around about 1600. And by about the mid 1600s cinchona 0:05:29.570 --> 0:05:32.500 bark started being imported into Europe. 0:05:32.919 --> 0:05:36.629 Is this presumably because cinchona bark was really important for 0:05:36.630 --> 0:05:39.270 industry at one point in time? People wouldn't be able to 0:05:39.270 --> 0:05:42.130 conduct business across large parts of the world, if you 0:05:42.130 --> 0:05:44.820 couldn't physically access them while staying healthy. 0:05:45.260 --> 0:05:51.159 Absolutely. So cinchona has been called a tool of imperialism 0:05:51.890 --> 0:05:56.599 and that's because Quinine, which is the active antimalarial chemical found 0:05:56.599 --> 0:06:00.500 in the bark, was so important for empire, particularly across 18th and 0:06:00.500 --> 0:06:05.150 19th century. And so, for many different countries within Europe 0:06:05.150 --> 0:06:08.359 who are interested in expanding into new territories and colonizing 0:06:08.359 --> 0:06:11.719 areas, such as India and parts of Africa, Quinine was 0:06:11.719 --> 0:06:15.950 really important because unless you can control disease, whenever you 0:06:15.950 --> 0:06:18.820 were to go somewhere that may have something like malaria, 0:06:19.169 --> 0:06:21.159 you're more likely to die off than to be able to 0:06:21.159 --> 0:06:22.139 enter those places. 0:06:23.339 --> 0:06:26.900 How is Quintin traditionally administered? Was it administered in tonic water? 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:30.670 Tonic water came a little bit later in the 19th century, 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:35.089 which is about the mid 1800s. But originally how Europeans 0:06:35.089 --> 0:06:38.740 started to use cinchona was in very traditional ways to 0:06:38.740 --> 0:06:40.900 use medicine, which is getting the bark, which is a 0:06:40.900 --> 0:06:43.960 very tough material, grinding up into a powder. So you 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.339 can crack open all the plant cells and get the 0:06:46.339 --> 0:06:49.490 chemicals out, and then dilute it. And the best way 0:06:49.490 --> 0:06:53.830 to dilute and extract chemicals quite often is by using 0:06:53.830 --> 0:06:57.539 a bit of alcohol. So early ways to dilute it 0:06:57.539 --> 0:07:00.619 would have been using wine, or port, or perhaps stronger 0:07:00.620 --> 0:07:04.500 spirits like brandy. By the 19th century, it was one of 0:07:04.500 --> 0:07:09.500 the largest imports of American drugs imported to Europe. Demand 0:07:09.500 --> 0:07:12.499 started to outstrip supply, and it started to be over 0:07:12.500 --> 0:07:16.800 harvested in the world by some unscrupulous harvesters. And as this 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.170 happened, and as the 19th century grew older and different 0:07:20.170 --> 0:07:23.900 empire started to look further afield to colonize new areas, 0:07:24.300 --> 0:07:28.580 Quinine started to gain extra significance for them. Around the 0:07:28.580 --> 0:07:32.900 early 1900s, different countries, particularly the Dutch and the British, 0:07:33.110 --> 0:07:35.360 started to look into how they could get hold of 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.980 this tree for themselves to cultivate. Quinine was used all 0:07:38.980 --> 0:07:42.650 the way up to the second World War, when supplies 0:07:42.650 --> 0:07:48.559 from Indonesian plantations got caught off. Unfortunately, using Quinine to 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:53.070 control the ability to colonize the areas is not a very 0:07:53.140 --> 0:07:54.939 nice thing to think about. And for the British and the 0:07:55.030 --> 0:07:57.270 Dutch to get hold of these trees, they were going 0:07:57.270 --> 0:07:59.950 to have to basically smuggle them out of South America. 0:08:00.230 --> 0:08:03.090 And they were justifying that as saving the seeds because 0:08:03.090 --> 0:08:07.820 of over harvesting, which is very complicated, because really nowadays 0:08:08.470 --> 0:08:11.470 you wouldn't do that. You would work with communities to 0:08:11.470 --> 0:08:14.650 bring up the cinchona bark and make it available for 0:08:14.650 --> 0:08:18.389 everybody if they chose to. Everything was different then. And 0:08:18.390 --> 0:08:23.379 unfortunately, they smuggled out to make plantations in India and Indonesia. 0:08:23.660 --> 0:08:26.809 So in that time, that was really considered par for the core. 0:08:26.810 --> 0:08:30.020 So people wouldn't have raised an eyebrow at all about 0:08:30.020 --> 0:08:32.859 the idea of taking plant material for one part of 0:08:32.860 --> 0:08:35.220 the world, or taking the knowledge of plant material even, 0:08:35.449 --> 0:08:38.590 and applying it for themselves. But nowadays we actually have 0:08:38.590 --> 0:08:41.099 a term for that bio- piracy and the same way 0:08:41.100 --> 0:08:46.230 that you would pirate a bootleg CD or a copy 0:08:46.230 --> 0:08:48.229 of a film that you download off the internet. We 0:08:49.340 --> 0:08:53.270 would have the same term for biological genetic information, and 0:08:53.270 --> 0:08:58.110 also information about how to grow and use plants. Now 0:08:58.110 --> 0:09:01.050 I should just point out here that Kim's book, Just 0:09:01.050 --> 0:09:04.490 the Tonic a Natural History of Tonic Water, which she co- 0:09:04.490 --> 0:09:08.530 wrote with Mark Nesbitt, is a fantastic read. If you'd 0:09:08.530 --> 0:09:11.079 like to delve a little deeper into the rich history of 0:09:11.220 --> 0:09:15.730 this favorite tipple, then check it out. The Cinchona story 0:09:15.730 --> 0:09:19.140 is just one example of how a naturally occurring medicine 0:09:19.390 --> 0:09:23.080 played an essential role in the movement of people internationally. 0:09:23.550 --> 0:09:26.540 With the current conversation about the British empire and its 0:09:26.540 --> 0:09:31.319 legacy, it's fascinating to me to contemplate whether European powers 0:09:31.530 --> 0:09:34.370 would have been able to colonize the world's tropical regions 0:09:34.550 --> 0:09:37.729 to the same extent, if at all, without this wonder 0:09:37.730 --> 0:09:41.870 drug. Or would history have unfolded quite differently? It's amazing 0:09:41.870 --> 0:09:44.420 to think that this humble tree might have carried the 0:09:44.420 --> 0:09:49.949 course of history upon its delicate branches. Nowadays, scientists are 0:09:49.949 --> 0:09:54.429 investigating new substances that can be created using other alkaloids 0:09:54.449 --> 0:09:57.970 within cinchona bark. And while science is opening more doors 0:09:57.970 --> 0:10:01.280 to plant medicines every day, they are still a constant 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:06.199 source of novel, unexpected compounds. I chatted to Dr. Bente 0:10:06.199 --> 0:10:11.469 Klitgaar, Senior Research Leader in Identification and Naming and Head 0:10:11.470 --> 0:10:15.050 of the Americas Department at Kew. She's mostly based in 0:10:15.050 --> 0:10:19.470 the Herbarium where seven million plant specimens are held. Her 0:10:19.470 --> 0:10:21.900 team looks after the two million of them from the 0:10:21.900 --> 0:10:27.980 Americas. My first visit to Kew's Herbarium was 15 years ago 0:10:27.980 --> 0:10:30.500 now, and I was just starting on my master's. And 0:10:30.500 --> 0:10:33.010 it's quite difficult to picture what seven million samples is 0:10:33.010 --> 0:10:34.750 like. But to me, it was like going into a 0:10:34.750 --> 0:10:38.500 scene from Harry Potter, just floor after floor in this 0:10:38.500 --> 0:10:42.280 beautiful old Victorian building, of course, with some modern adjuncts 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.110 now. And a Herbarium is to an untrained eye, just 0:10:46.589 --> 0:10:48.891 millions of pressed flower specimens. 0:10:48.891 --> 0:10:49.589 They are. 0:10:49.939 --> 0:10:52.240 It's like some kind of someone's hobby just went really 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:57.020 out of control. Why is it important to have so 0:10:57.020 --> 0:10:59.710 many just pieces of plant squished between paper? 0:11:00.620 --> 0:11:04.569 They are the ultimate evidence. Because we don't just have 0:11:04.569 --> 0:11:08.740 one of each plant species, we have about 80% of 0:11:08.740 --> 0:11:12.640 the biodiversity in terms of the generic level, which is 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.890 a bit scientific, represented in Kew's Herbarium. So, Kew's Herbarium is one of 0:11:16.890 --> 0:11:22.309 the best global collections in the world. And as I said, we can use it for any type 0:11:22.309 --> 0:11:25.339 of research, because we don't have to have all one 0:11:25.339 --> 0:11:29.290 of each species, we have the whole distribution range. I have 0:11:29.290 --> 0:11:31.750 some plants that I have known ever since I started 0:11:31.750 --> 0:11:36.510 my career in botany. And these are the legume family that I have been 0:11:36.510 --> 0:11:39.420 specializing. I've been doing many things in my career, but 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:43.199 the legume family has always been part, been my friend all 0:11:43.199 --> 0:11:43.869 the way along. 0:11:44.199 --> 0:11:46.780 So peas and beans, the legume family. It's such a massive 0:11:46.780 --> 0:11:49.929 family. And this includes everything from tiny little herbs in 0:11:49.929 --> 0:11:50.890 the Arctic Tundra- 0:11:50.890 --> 0:11:50.970 Exactly, yes. 0:11:50.970 --> 0:11:53.589 ... right up to giant Amazonian trees. 0:11:53.809 --> 0:11:57.210 Yes. Some of the biggest emergence in the Amazon are 0:11:57.309 --> 0:11:59.600 legumes as well. So I'm going to show you some of 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.750 my very, very best friends and my first legume friend. 0:12:02.829 --> 0:12:07.089 It's a genus called Brownea. When I started working on 0:12:07.089 --> 0:12:10.650 this genus called Brownea, they're rainforest trees. They occur only 0:12:11.199 --> 0:12:13.840 in Northwestern, South America. And I can show you- 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:14.449 Wow, look at that. 0:12:16.179 --> 0:12:21.579 Yeah. Yeah. So, at Key, we are very, very lucky. 0:12:21.579 --> 0:12:25.179 There's one in the Palm house, which is Brownea Coccinia, 0:12:25.179 --> 0:12:29.929 and there's one at Princess or Wales Conservatory called Brownea grandiceps. 0:12:30.329 --> 0:12:34.459 So when I miss them, I can go into one 0:12:34.459 --> 0:12:37.449 of these green houses, and they flower as well, they're fantastic. They get up about a football size. 0:12:40.339 --> 0:12:42.970 It looks like something straight out of the movie Avatar. 0:12:43.209 --> 0:12:46.640 It's like a giant pompom flower with these really, really 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:48.470 long filaments that are coming out of it. 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:48.500 Yeah. 0:12:48.689 --> 0:12:51.410 Almost like you've got a big fistful of the showiest 0:12:51.410 --> 0:12:52.700 rhododendron and stuck them all together- 0:12:52.700 --> 0:12:52.701 Exactly. 0:12:52.701 --> 0:12:55.170 ... and just made them look even more exotic. 0:12:56.020 --> 0:12:59.349 As a young scientist, I decided to work on this 0:12:59.349 --> 0:13:04.209 group for my Master's thesis. So I went then and my task was 0:13:04.209 --> 0:13:08.870 to understand that the Brownea is species in Ecuador. That was one 0:13:08.870 --> 0:13:13.429 task, and the other task was then to understand how the Brownea species 0:13:14.130 --> 0:13:18.099 were used in Ecuador. And I wanted to write a book about 0:13:18.890 --> 0:13:23.620 children who live in the rainforest. So I actually got 0:13:23.620 --> 0:13:29.329 myself a deal with a publisher. And I went and visited 0:13:30.170 --> 0:13:33.900 some indigenous communities in the Amazon at the same time. 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:35.310 So I realized- 0:13:35.550 --> 0:13:37.750 Talk about multitasking there. Is there anything you can't do? 0:13:41.309 --> 0:13:45.949 I try and spoil it. But some indigenous tribes in 0:13:45.949 --> 0:13:56.410 Northern Ecuador, they actually use one Brownea, a species of Brownea, grandiceps, as a contraceptive. And 0:13:56.410 --> 0:14:01.849 I did lots of literature work. And I realized that 0:14:01.849 --> 0:14:07.939 actually several species had been used by other indigenous tribes 0:14:07.939 --> 0:14:13.079 in Colombia, in Venezuela, and in Ghana. So it's not, 0:14:13.079 --> 0:14:16.239 it wasn't an isolated phenomenon. None of the families have 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:20.240 more than four children. The legume family members of the family, or members of the 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:23.210 legume family, it's been shown that they are the only 0:14:23.210 --> 0:14:30.290 family to contain a group of chemicals called flavonoids, or 0:14:30.590 --> 0:14:34.350 isoflavonoids. And these flavonoids or isoflavonoid, they've been found in a species of clover called trifolium 0:14:34.350 --> 0:14:38.509 subterraneum. They have this estrogenic effect. 0:14:40.060 --> 0:14:43.950 Having clues like this from naturally occurring compounds can get 0:14:43.950 --> 0:14:48.460 scientists really excited, as it offers possible clues for building 0:14:48.460 --> 0:14:53.170 affordable, safe, and sustainable alternatives for human use in a 0:14:53.170 --> 0:14:57.359 lab. Bente explained why research like hers is so vital 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:58.100 in the first place. 0:14:59.880 --> 0:15:02.780 It has proved my viable. It has proved viable that you 0:15:02.780 --> 0:15:06.850 found one compound in one plant that is protective against 0:15:06.850 --> 0:15:09.280 cancer. And you can start to synthesize that part, but 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:11.790 you wouldn't have found that compound had you not found 0:15:11.790 --> 0:15:12.530 it in a plant first. 0:15:12.780 --> 0:15:15.620 And that covers everything from some of the most important 0:15:15.620 --> 0:15:17.080 cancer drugs used in conventional medicine- 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:17.720 Yeah, yeah. 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:19.670 ... to the leading treatment for malaria. 0:15:20.380 --> 0:15:20.980 Exactly. Exactly. 0:15:21.390 --> 0:15:23.490 So want to know is, did you ever write the 0:15:23.490 --> 0:15:24.479 children's book? 0:15:28.740 --> 0:15:31.570 Unfortunately, I got very sidetracked by the science. 0:15:32.490 --> 0:15:35.660 Thanks for listening to Unearthed. I'll be back again in 0:15:35.660 --> 0:15:38.180 just a minute. But first here's a message from our 0:15:38.180 --> 0:15:39.540 supporter, Kim Catrall. 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:46.150 As a charity, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is facing 0:15:46.150 --> 0:15:50.700 a severe funding crisis right now. The impact of Coronavirus 0:15:50.700 --> 0:15:55.630 has created a financial shortfall of 15 million pounds. This 0:15:55.630 --> 0:15:58.810 money is vital for the upkeep of these beautiful botanic 0:15:58.810 --> 0:16:04.820 gardens and crucial to continuing its global conservation work. Plants 0:16:04.820 --> 0:16:07.900 and fungi hold many of the answers to the world's 0:16:07.900 --> 0:16:13.440 biggest challenges, such as climate change, food security, and biodiversity 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:17.220 loss. And Kew needs to play a role in furthering 0:16:17.220 --> 0:16:22.210 the science and identifying desperately needed solutions. If there's one 0:16:22.210 --> 0:16:25.609 positive thing that could come out of this pandemic, it 0:16:25.609 --> 0:16:28.479 will be to encourage each and every one of us 0:16:28.479 --> 0:16:32.960 to look afresh and with urgency at these global challenges. 0:16:33.410 --> 0:16:37.100 If you are enjoying this podcast, and feel inspired by 0:16:37.100 --> 0:16:40.340 the work that Kew does, please go to Kew. org 0:16:40.979 --> 0:16:45.300 to donate today, to help not only protect Kew, but 0:16:45.300 --> 0:16:48.070 also preserve the future of our planet. 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.030 A really exciting area of Kew's modern day remit, lies 0:16:53.030 --> 0:16:56.660 in the evaluation of plants. And this can mean traveling 0:16:56.660 --> 0:17:00.370 far and wide to learn about new species, as well 0:17:00.370 --> 0:17:02.390 as how they're being used by local people. 0:17:03.780 --> 0:17:08.949 I'm Tom Prescott, and my job title is Evaluation of 0:17:08.950 --> 0:17:16.350 Plant Uses. I'm mainly focused on looking for potential medicines 0:17:16.350 --> 0:17:20.749 from plants and fungi. So I first fell in love 0:17:20.750 --> 0:17:24.300 with Papua New Guinea, kind of, I was working in 0:17:24.300 --> 0:17:26.970 Australia and I decided to kind of go up there 0:17:27.340 --> 0:17:30.639 and have a brief look. And then later on, when 0:17:30.639 --> 0:17:33.259 I managed to start to get field work funding from 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.409 when I was an undergraduate, I started to go there. 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:40.220 People walk around barefoot and you have to. I'm quite 0:17:40.220 --> 0:17:42.270 convinced of the idea actually, that if you live in 0:17:42.270 --> 0:17:46.859 the rainforest permanently shoes are of very little value to you. And 0:17:46.859 --> 0:17:49.979 the reason is that, just going about your day to 0:17:49.980 --> 0:17:54.840 day business, walking across rainforest terrain, you need that sort 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.669 of tactile feedback from your feet. So for example, when 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:01.509 you're walking along, there's lots of deep ravines where the 0:18:01.510 --> 0:18:05.300 little rivers at the bottom and you walk over essentially 0:18:05.300 --> 0:18:08.830 tree trunks, from trees that have fallen over that act 0:18:08.830 --> 0:18:12.830 like a bridge to walk across. But the downside is 0:18:12.889 --> 0:18:15.310 if you get kind of scratched by something on your 0:18:15.310 --> 0:18:19.330 ankle, in a rainforest environment, it gets infected really quickly. 0:18:20.470 --> 0:18:25.200 After experiencing an infection himself, Tom became deeply interested in 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.750 how local plants were being used to treat them. Fortunately, 0:18:28.750 --> 0:18:33.310 the antibacterial, or antimicrobial properties of some plants are there 0:18:33.310 --> 0:18:36.149 to help tackle infections before they get serious. 0:18:36.230 --> 0:18:39.369 My interest is the plant medicines that are used to 0:18:39.369 --> 0:18:44.510 treat these cutaneous ulcers, so skin ulcers, which are really 0:18:44.510 --> 0:18:48.899 common there. They're quite debilitating, and because they go deep 0:18:48.899 --> 0:18:52.159 into the tissue, they're really, really painful. There's a kind 0:18:52.159 --> 0:18:54.700 of more serious side to it, which is that they 0:18:55.020 --> 0:18:59.899 act as a possible gateway for secondary infections. So there's 0:18:59.899 --> 0:19:05.580 another kind of bacterial infection caused by Treponema bacteria. And 0:19:05.649 --> 0:19:08.649 it's sort of believed or theorized to be the case 0:19:08.649 --> 0:19:11.070 that once you have one of these little skin ulcers, 0:19:11.070 --> 0:19:15.159 that all the kids have gotten these villages, the Treponema 0:19:15.159 --> 0:19:19.590 bacteria can then get into your body. And Treponema causes 0:19:19.810 --> 0:19:23.740 something called Yaws Disease. And that that can have really 0:19:23.970 --> 0:19:28.270 horrific consequences. It's not uncommon for plants to produce anti- 0:19:28.270 --> 0:19:34.129 microbial substances. And then people who live in rainforests have 0:19:34.340 --> 0:19:38.490 adapted to their environment, by learning which plants to use, 0:19:38.490 --> 0:19:42.740 to put onto these infected skin ulcers. Eighty percent of 0:19:42.770 --> 0:19:45.590 people in Papua New Guinea live in rural areas, and 0:19:45.590 --> 0:19:48.129 when we say rural, we don't really mean people driving 0:19:48.129 --> 0:19:51.429 around in Land Rovers in Devon. We mean people living 0:19:51.429 --> 0:19:55.560 right out in really hard to access areas. The one 0:19:55.560 --> 0:20:00.060 thing that a plant medicine has that can really win 0:20:00.109 --> 0:20:03.919 over a conventional pharmaceutical treatment. And the one thing that 0:20:03.919 --> 0:20:07.800 has that will basically beat the other treatment hands down 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:11.700 every time, is it exists in the field, and it's 0:20:11.700 --> 0:20:12.699 constantly there. 0:20:13.700 --> 0:20:17.429 Tom's fascination with local medicines available in the Papua New 0:20:17.429 --> 0:20:21.289 Guinea rainforest led him to run trials, comparing how these anti- 0:20:21.290 --> 0:20:24.260 microbial plant treatments with the sorts of things you can 0:20:24.270 --> 0:20:26.940 buy over the counter in the UK. We had a 0:20:26.940 --> 0:20:30.669 serious geek out about this. This is knowledge that people 0:20:30.669 --> 0:20:33.859 in societies all over the world have potentially had for 0:20:33.859 --> 0:20:38.780 decades, 100s, maybe even 1000s of years. But it's only 0:20:38.780 --> 0:20:44.090 being reported scientifically now. And skin ulcers are something that 0:20:44.090 --> 0:20:48.270 affects millions of people worldwide. So if there's an ability 0:20:48.270 --> 0:20:51.440 to find a treatment for them, that is somehow more 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:56.030 effective, or either as effective as conventional therapies, then there's 0:20:56.030 --> 0:21:00.479 some real massive potential benefit to humanity here. What have 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:01.210 we found so far? 0:21:01.389 --> 0:21:05.540 The most promising plant that we've been looking at is something 0:21:05.540 --> 0:21:10.109 called Ficus septica, which is a species of tropical fig. 0:21:10.619 --> 0:21:13.879 And also a crucial point here is that we're looking 0:21:13.879 --> 0:21:17.760 for the most common anti- microbial plant that we can 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:21.409 find. The rationale is that we want to find clinical 0:21:21.409 --> 0:21:25.119 evidence to support the use of a traditional medicine, but 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.909 the traditional medicine should be so common that anybody in 0:21:28.909 --> 0:21:33.100 any village, virtually in lowland Papua New Guinea, you could just walk 0:21:33.419 --> 0:21:37.409 50 yards and find this plant, and use it anytime 0:21:37.409 --> 0:21:42.840 they want to. Ficus septica has really good antibacterial activity. 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:45.929 It produces lots and lots of little figs, sort of 0:21:45.929 --> 0:21:48.440 like berry like things. And if you walk up to 0:21:48.929 --> 0:21:51.250 Ficus septica, which is a small tree, and you can 0:21:51.250 --> 0:21:55.159 find it kind of growing pretty much anywhere in lowland 0:21:55.159 --> 0:21:57.750 Papua New Guinea, you pull off one of these little 0:21:57.750 --> 0:22:01.800 fruit like things, and then this really beautiful white sap 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:04.780 starts dripping out of the end of the berry. And 0:22:04.780 --> 0:22:09.100 the sap contains all these anti- microbial compounds. And what 0:22:09.100 --> 0:22:12.929 you notice as it produces a slight sort of reddening around 0:22:12.939 --> 0:22:15.609 where the sap has been, nothing too extreme, but as 0:22:15.609 --> 0:22:18.970 if there's a little kind of immune response coming back, 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:22.159 which is quite interesting. But the other thing that the 0:22:22.159 --> 0:22:25.990 plant sap does that we've seen really clearly is it 0:22:25.990 --> 0:22:29.300 forms a kind of flexible plastic kind of covering over 0:22:29.300 --> 0:22:32.960 the wound. There are flies that are attracted to these 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:37.359 wounds and they're believed to be transmitting bacteria. And I've 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:40.060 noticed this when I first had one of these infected 0:22:40.060 --> 0:22:42.540 wounds, they make contact with the sap, it's almost like 0:22:42.540 --> 0:22:45.169 they get a physical shock and they jump straight back, 0:22:45.169 --> 0:22:47.450 and they won't go within a few millimeters of it. 0:22:49.230 --> 0:22:52.239 So you have the anti- microbial response, which gets rid 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:56.340 of the infection, potentially it reduces your body's reaction to 0:22:56.340 --> 0:22:59.470 that, the inflammation, which can cause a lot of pain. 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:04.550 It then seals the wound and also prevents secondary infection 0:23:04.550 --> 0:23:08.189 from insects. That's nuts, like four different things all in 0:23:08.189 --> 0:23:08.689 one plant. 0:23:08.950 --> 0:23:12.389 Yeah. I was pretty surprised to see all of this. 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:14.950 I think there is a lot more out there in the rain 0:23:14.950 --> 0:23:17.169 forest that's waiting to be discovered. 0:23:19.500 --> 0:23:21.999 It's so exciting to me to hear how the botanical 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:26.609 world is still offering new scientific surprises, and helping us 0:23:26.609 --> 0:23:30.320 find solutions to old problems as we share knowledge around 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:34.469 the world. It makes you wonder what other undocumented answers 0:23:34.530 --> 0:23:37.959 lie within the realms of our forests, hiding in plain 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:44.700 sight. From rainforest now to a forest of information. In 0:23:44.700 --> 0:23:48.590 addition to Kew's living collections of medicinal plants, the economic 0:23:48.590 --> 0:23:54.270 botany collection, or ECB, holds around 25, 000 items of medicinal plant 0:23:54.270 --> 0:23:59.490 materials, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's collection of medicines, as 0:23:59.490 --> 0:24:03.330 well as Chinese traditional medicines. I found out how we're 0:24:03.330 --> 0:24:06.850 working with plants to make medicines today with Dr. Melanie- 0:24:06.850 --> 0:24:07.499 Jayne Howes. 0:24:10.580 --> 0:24:14.010 So my name is Melanie Howes. So I lead research 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:19.909 in phytochemistry and pharmacognosy at Kew. So much of my 0:24:20.210 --> 0:24:25.340 research currently involves investigating the chemistry of plants, but especially 0:24:25.340 --> 0:24:29.340 to understand their uses as medicines and also for our 0:24:29.350 --> 0:24:31.020 health, such as in our diets. 0:24:31.230 --> 0:24:34.340 It's very easy to assume that the uses of plants in 0:24:34.340 --> 0:24:37.919 medicine is a historical anecdote. They were very interesting in 0:24:37.919 --> 0:24:43.639 the past, in the Roman empire, but in modern pharmacology, 0:24:43.639 --> 0:24:46.790 they're not used to the same extent. How accurate would 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:48.929 you think that common belief would be? 0:24:48.980 --> 0:24:53.560