Advanced Pharmacognosy

Shree Sai Prakashan is writing a full set of B.Pharm titles to this new NEP 2020 syllabus. Get notified the moment the book for this subject is released, or pre-book sets for your college.

Unit 1 · Reverse Pharmacology and Integrative Approaches 6 hrs

Reverse pharmacology and integrative approaches from the AYUSH perspective; the ethnopharmacological approach to bioprospecting; traditional-medicine databases including the AYUSH Research Portal, ICMR Standards on Indian Medicinal Plants, TKDL, NAPRALERT and Super Natural; molecular docking and ADMET screening of bioactives; and adjuvant therapy with herbals in metabolic and non-communicable disease.

Unit 2 · Metabolomics and Systems Biology 11 hrs

An introduction to metabolomics and its tools; the application of NMR and HRMS; metabolomic profiling and dereplication studies; the role of metabolomics in quality control, the scientific validation of traditional claims and pharmacological evaluation; network pharmacology and systems-biology approaches to herbal medicine; and the significance of spectral libraries and chemoinformatics databases.

Unit 3 · Modern Techniques in Natural-Product Discovery 10 hrs

The role of artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data in drug discovery from natural products; molecular docking, virtual screening and pharmacophore modelling; genomic and transcriptomic tools in medicinal-plant research; and high-throughput screening and bioautography.

Unit 4 · Validation and Development of Herbal Leads 12 hrs

Bioactivity-guided fractionation, characterization and structure elucidation; the optimization of lead compounds for efficacy, safety and stability through SAR and QSAR modelling of semi-synthetic derivatives of salicin, artemisinin, piperine, papaverine and andrographolide; and the preclinical and clinical evaluation of herbal leads through to new-drug approval and post-market surveillance.

Unit 5 · Patenting of Natural Products 6 hrs

Key terminology — patents, intellectual property rights, farmers' and breeders' rights, bioprospecting and biopiracy; the legal frameworks and challenges in patenting natural substances and traditional knowledge; the role of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), the National Biodiversity Authority and the Nagoya Protocol; and case studies including the revocation of the U.S. turmeric wound-healing patent and the neem biopiracy case.