http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?
set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=iol1Traditional Tibetan drugs go online
111390252892O545

March 21 2005 at 09:51AM

Beijing - An online database of traditional Tibetan medicines has
been launched in China.

The free access database, launched on 24 February, is a joint effort
by two institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS): the
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology in Xining — a city populated
largely by ethnic Tibetans — and the Lanzhou Scientific Information
Centre for Resources and Environment.

The database has 3 000 distinct entries covering Tibetan
pharmaceutical resources, traditional prescriptions, ancient and
modern literature about Tibetan medicine, and details of Tibetan
medical experts and institutions that research or prescribe Tibetan
medicines.

According to ancient texts, Tibetan medicine uses more than 2 085
plants. So far, records of 2 294 traditional prescriptions are
available through the database, including 300 that are commonly used
in Tibet and by ethnic Tibetans in China.

"Our database aims to better protect, standardise and utilise the
indigenous heritage of the Tibetan people," says Ma Jianxia, the
database's progam director and a research fellow at the Lanzhou
centre.

Among the information included are details of the names of plants
used in Tibetan medicine, where they are found, and how to identify,
collect, store and cultivate them.

The database also details the plants' pharmaceutical effects,
including any toxins they contain.

According to Ma, research institutes and hospitals offering Tibetan
medicine, which were invited to test the database as it was being
developed, have welcomed the initiative. Ma adds that many Tibetan
doctors and researchers volunteered to help refine the material.

The two institutes involved in the program are funding the database
at a cost of about American $120 000 (about R730 000).

Although the database is currently available only in Chinese and
Tibetan, Ma says she and her colleagues are seeking sponsors to
develop it into a comprehensive multilingual website and add news,
views and other information about Tibetan drugs.

She adds that all the information on the database come from the
ancient pharmaceutical literature of Tibet.

However, she admits that the database developers have yet to
consider the intellectual property implications of making indigenous
Tibetan knowledge freely available on the Internet.



March 21 2005 at 09:51AM

Beijing - An online database of traditional Tibetan medicines has
been launched in China.

The free access database, launched on 24 February, is a joint effort
by two institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS): the
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology in Xining — a city populated
largely by ethnic Tibetans — and the Lanzhou Scientific Information
Centre for Resources and Environment.

The database has 3 000 distinct entries covering Tibetan
pharmaceutical resources, traditional prescriptions, ancient and
modern literature about Tibetan medicine, and details of Tibetan
medical experts and institutions that research or prescribe Tibetan
medicines.

According to ancient texts, Tibetan medicine uses more than 2 085
plants. So far, records of 2 294 traditional prescriptions are
available through the database, including 300 that are commonly used
in Tibet and by ethnic Tibetans in China.

"Our database aims to better protect, standardise and utilise the
indigenous heritage of the Tibetan people," says Ma Jianxia, the
database's progam director and a research fellow at the Lanzhou
centre.

Among the information included are details of the names of plants
used in Tibetan medicine, where they are found, and how to identify,
collect, store and cultivate them.

The database also details the plants' pharmaceutical effects,
including any toxins they contain.

According to Ma, research institutes and hospitals offering Tibetan
medicine, which were invited to test the database as it was being
developed, have welcomed the initiative. Ma adds that many Tibetan
doctors and researchers volunteered to help refine the material.

The two institutes involved in the program are funding the database
at a cost of about American $120 000 (about R730 000).

Although the database is currently available only in Chinese and
Tibetan, Ma says she and her colleagues are seeking sponsors to
develop it into a comprehensive multilingual website and add news,
views and other information about Tibetan drugs.

She adds that all the information on the database come from the
ancient pharmaceutical literature of Tibet.

However, she admits that the database developers have yet to
consider the intellectual property implications of making indigenous
Tibetan knowledge freely available on the Internet.