[Cooperative research and educational center for breeding and standardization of medicinal plants and drug development between Japan and China].

A project "Cooperative research and educational center for breeding and standardization of medicinal plants and drug development between Japan and China" was launched in 2006 with the support of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The project focuses on medicinal plants that are important sources of traditional medicines and modern drugs. Many of these plants exist in Asian countries and have been utilized in health care to maintain quality of life. Recently, the short supply of some important medicinal plants, like Glycyrrhiza sp. and Ephedra sp. has become an issue in Japan and China. We believe that cooperative research by many specialist researchers is a prerequisite for overcoming this problem and for establishing a supply of these resources with their highly added values. Furthermore, with our group's participating researchers utilizing state-of-the-art drug evaluation methods in pharmacological and pharmacutical sciences, the development of new drugs and treatment candidates using the collaborative resources of this project, which include distinguished natural chemists, is anticipated. Another important aim of the project is to foster young scientists. In the project, we are encouraging them to continue their studies to produce new findings regarding traditional medicines and drug development.