Phytotherapy and the ‘Omics Concept

Medicinal plants are particularly important biobanks for chemical and structural diversity and the identification and characterization of druggable agents in the pharmaceutical developmental processes. Many researchers are now striving to upgrade traditional medicine to match modern medicine. One of the greatest means to do this is by omics sciences. This chapter focuses on the description of ‘omics technologies as a pivotal tool in the standardization and modernization of phytotherapy. Some of the ‘omics approaches discussed are genomics, proteomics, chemoproteomics, glycoproteomics, immunoproteomics, interactomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, toxicogenomics, pharcogenomics, pharmacometabolomics, phytochemomics, toxicometabolomics, phenomics, cytomics, and metallomics. These fields of sciences are very important for the understanding of components and mechanisms of actions of cells, tissues, organs, and systems with disease mechanisms. Thus, ‘omics sciences have been gaining ground and acceptance in the drug development processes of modern medicine and as a precision medicine for disease management. Overall, utilizing ‘omics technologies as tools for the standardization and modernization of phytotherapy is a promising way to improve traditional medicine in tackling several life-threatening and deadly diseases.

Keywords: Phytotherapy, Medicinal plant, Omics technology, Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics.