Department of Biochemistry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, PR China.
Chin Med. 2009 Nov 24;4:21. doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-4-21.
Herbal medicines are used in many countries for maintaining health and treating diseases. Their efficacy depends on the use of the correct materials, and life-threatening poisoning may occur if toxic adulterants or substitutes are administered instead. Identification of a medicinal material at the DNA level provides an objective and powerful tool for quality control. Extraction of high-quality DNA is the first crucial step in DNA authentication, followed by a battery of DNA techniques including whole genome fingerprinting, DNA sequencing and DNA microarray to establish the identity of the material. New or improved technologies have been developed and valuable data have been collected and compiled for DNA authentication. Some of these technologies and data are patentable. This article provides an overview of some recent patents that cover the extraction of DNA from medicinal materials, the amplification of DNA using improved reaction conditions, the generation of DNA sequences and fingerprints, and the development of high-throughput authentication methods. It also briefly explains why these patents have been granted.
草药在许多国家被用于保持健康和治疗疾病。它们的疗效取决于正确使用材料，如果使用有毒的掺杂物或替代品，可能会导致危及生命的中毒。在 DNA 水平上鉴定药材为质量控制提供了一种客观而强大的工具。提取高质量的 DNA 是 DNA 鉴定的第一步关键步骤，然后是一系列 DNA 技术，包括全基因组指纹图谱、DNA 测序和 DNA 微阵列，以确定材料的身份。已经开发了新的或改进的技术，并为 DNA 鉴定收集和编制了有价值的数据。其中一些技术和数据是可专利的。本文概述了一些涵盖从药用材料中提取 DNA、使用改进的反应条件扩增 DNA、生成 DNA 序列和指纹以及开发高通量鉴定方法的最新专利。本文还简要解释了为什么授予这些专利。
