Patent applications for using DNA technologies to authenticate medicinal herbal material.

Chinese Medicine
Pang-Chui ShawPaul Pui-Hay But

Abstract

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.

References

Nov 25, 1990·Nucleic Acids Research·J G WilliamsS V Tingey
Nov 11, 1995·Nucleic Acids Research·P VosM Kuiper
Jul 1, 1995·Science & Justice : Journal of the Forensic Science Society·R GillanN D Watson
Jul 13, 1996·BMJ : British Medical Journal·P P ButC K Lee
May 27, 2004·Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry·Andrea GerminiCorrado Fogher
Jun 17, 2004·Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation : Official Publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association·Stanley Hok-King LoAlbert Chan
Aug 8, 2007·Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry·Stephen Cho-Wing SzeYao Tong
Sep 7, 2007·Chinese Medicine·Pui Ying YipHoi Shan Kwan

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCR
reverse transcription PCR
RAPD

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