Page 47 - Genomic Medicine in Emerging Economies

36 CHAPTER 3: Genomics and Public Health: China’s Perspective

The study of genomics has led to insights on gene regulation and the com-
plex interplay of factors at play in both Chinese medicine and in personal-
ized medicine (Yun et al., 2012a). Clinicians and life scientists, therefore, are
currently at a critical junction to accelerate both TCM and its evidence base
with the availability of genomics, as well as postgenomics technologies such
as functional genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, glycomics, and lipido-
mics at molecular and cellular levels. This chapter provides an outlook on the
enormous promise anticipated from the integration of TCM with genomics/
genetics as a new driver for novel molecular-targeted personalized medicine,
and the future directions and challenges in this hitherto neglected dimension
of postgenomic-personalized medicine. Recently, this has mainly involved
the systematic use of patients’ genotypes and clinical phenotypes to optimize
the individual’s preventive and therapeutic care (Wang and Chen, 2013; Yun
et al., 2012b).

Application of Genomics Technologies in the Authentication of
Traditional Chinese Medicine
The elements of TCM diagnoses are influenced by three principal factors:
heredity (genetic composition), ontogeny (stage of development), and envi-
ronment (climate, associated flora, soil, and method of cultivation). Genetic
analyses of Chinese herbs can provide leads for the botanical identity of TCM
constituents as the DNA profiling of a herbal species does not vary with their
physical form, physiology, and external conditions. Natural products are gain-
ing increased applications in drug discovery and development. DNA mutation
and polymorphism analysis lead to the applications of DNA microarrays in
pharmacodynamics, pharmacogenomics, toxicogenomics, and quality control
of herbal drugs and extracts. Genomic analyses of Chinese herbs provide the
botanical identity of TCM constituents (Hon et al., 2003). One of the most
well-studied herbs is ginseng, which has long been used to maintain physi-
cal vitality in China and the Far East. Ginsenosides, a main element of gin-
seng, can inhibit early antigen activation of Epstein-Barr virus and also shows
anticarcinogenic effects in a two-stage mouse skin model with 9,10-dimethyl-
1,2-benzanthracene and in lung carcinogenesis induced by 4-nitroquinolin-
1-oxide (Konoshima et al., 1996; Zhang et al., 2013). The DNA probe method
for the identification of host-specific DNA fragments has been employed in
DNA fingerprinting analysis of ginseng and generated a distinctive banding
pattern, with a homologous index of 0.55 between Chinese and American
ginseng (Ho and Leung, 2002). In another investigation, the random ampli-
fied polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique has been used to identify the Panax
species and their adulterant, and distinct RAPD fingerprints of American and
Chinese ginseng have been obtained, irrespective of sources and ages (Shaw
and But, 1995). Restriction fragment length polymorphic DNA is also applied
on ginseng authentication based on the ribosomal ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and