Neuroscience News: NIH Invests in Plant Research

The National Institutes of Health has funded a $6 million program to identify what chemical 14 medicinal plants contain. This research is going to identify the "transcriptome" or the total mRNA, rRNA and tRNA that is being expressed under specific conditions. This is leads to identifying the final "metabolome" or active chemicals produced by a plant. This will enable drug companies to find new medications based on plant compounds. Some of the plants being analyzed sequenced are foxglove, echinacea, vinca and valerian.