Greek scientist Evangelos Tatsis is a group leader at the Centre of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science in Shanghai, a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, the UK. A recipient of the Royal Society’s Newton Advanced Fellowship in 2019; his research includes engineering metabolic pathways for the biosynthesis of natural products from Chinese medicinal plants. He is the author of several publications in international scientific journals including Nature Communications.

A photograph of Evangelos Tatsis.

Evangelos Tatsis

Why did Evangelos Tatsis come all the way to Shanghai in 2016 to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and improve the database of modern drug molecules? Why does he consider TCM to be a treasure trove for modern drug development?

CNS: Tu Youyou, the Chinese pharmacologist who’s also the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine, researched TCM and its integration with Western medicines for years, leading to the discovery of the antimalarial drug artemisinin. How do you regard her discovery?

Evangelos Tatsis: Tu Youyou discovered the Chinese remedy for malaria from an ancient Chinese medical text, The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency, which can be traced back to the 3rd to 4th century. She followed the clues from this prescription and discovered that extracts of sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) had anti-malarial properties.

This is an absolutely remarkable discovery. A pointer to the modern drug artemisinin, regarded as the most effective anti-malarial drug, was found in a millennia-old Chinese medical book. It also shows that no matter which age we are in, there is the possibility that human beings will discover new drugs from plants. I think more modern drugs can be discovered from Chinese medicine.

CNS: Chinese medicine, guided by Chinese medical theory, is used to prevent, treat and diagnose diseases, as well as for rehabilitation and healthcare. Most of them are plant-based and it is commonly believed that all medicines are based on herbs. Why did you choose to study Chinese medicine?

Evangelos Tatsis: TCM is a treasure trove for human beings because it is a large and sophisticated scientific system, with detailed records of herbal resources, numerous descriptions of remedies, and detailed descriptions on the effects of different diseases.

Chinese medicine has important implications for modern drug development.

Western medicine emphasizes the study of the therapeutic effects and side effects of a single ingredient while TCM focuses on the integrated use of medicine and often uses multiple ingredients at a time. This means that for the same disease, different drugs can be used on different parts of the body to achieve a holistic treatment. This is a form of (today’s) highly active antiretroviral therapy (which uses a combination of drugs). If a single drug does not work well, one can draw inspiration from TCM and extract a combination of multiple ingredients with integrated effects to treat the same disease, so that we can develop new modern compound drugs. Of course, this requires complex research and considerable investment.

Secondly, from TCM we can learn how to customize. Many TCM prescriptions are tailor-made (for individual patients), a concept that may influence the future direction of modern medicine, enabling prescriptions to be tailored to the needs of each patient.

CNS: TCM is a method of diagnosis and treatment based on thousands of years of clinical practice. Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine), a medical treatise written more than two thousand years ago, laid the foundation for Chinese medicine. In 2018, the World Health Organization for the first time included TCM in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, which is a globally used diagnostic tool. How do you see the difference between TCM and Western medicine?

Evangelos Tatsis: I don’t want to define the development of medicine in terms of geography or culture because biologically, we are all human beings, the same kind of creature.

In my opinion, there is no difference between TCM and Western medicine, but rather, the difference between traditional and modern medicine. What we are comparing is the difference between traditional, empirical research methods and modern, more evidence-based scientific research, whether it is TCM, traditional Greek medicine, or traditional Indian medicine.

TCM is a valuable asset to humanity. In the future, the Chinese will be proud to see elements of TCM in modern medicine. But to make the world accept TCM in the future is not only about medicine but also about the acceptance of a culture, which is not easy.

CNS: The Centre of Excellence for Plant and Microbial Science, established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the John Innes Centre with a joint investment of £12 million, invites top scientists from around the world to join it. Why did you decide to come to Shanghai? Which specific area of TCM are you working in now?

Evangelos Tatsis: China has developed rapidly over the years. I came to China to do research for three reasons: First, I wanted to set up my own practice research group, and some practices are easier to carry out in China; second, China’s research has been developing particularly well in the past few years; and third, China has a large variety of plants and abundant research resources.

We have 10 staff members in our international research group. In addition to Chinese researchers, there are also researchers from Greece, Israel, Brazil, Portugal and Poland.

Two of our projects are funded by the Shanghai (local) government. In collaboration with the John Innes Centre, we have discovered a molecule with anti-cancer property that could potentially open up new directions in the development of anti-cancer drugs in the future. The application of this type of molecules can be found in TCM treatments, but its medicinal value has not yet been systematically studied.

These plants grow only in China and some other Asian countries. Our research has two study directions: to understand the specific anti-cancer components through plant extraction; and to figure out how to genetically exploit the plant to obtain more of these components. I believe that in-depth research on TCM herbal plants will not only benefit China, but the world.

CNS: Both Greece and China are countries with a long history and rich culture, and ancient Western medicine originated in ancient Greece. Has traditional Greek medicine been modernized and is used in other countries?

Evangelos Tatsis: In ancient Greece, people suffering from diseases tended to turn to nature for treatment. I think the best medicine comes from plants. From ancient times to the present, plants have been used to treat basic diseases. We can find traces of the medicinal use of plants in both cultural history and religious beliefs.

Today, Greece no longer distinguishes between traditional and modern medicine. Many of the modern medicines we use today actually come from plants or traditional medicine. Greece and many other countries look for clues in ancient medical methods and traditional medicines to facilitate modern medicine.

But Greek traditional medicine does not have the systematic classification that TCM does. The advantage of TCM is that it is well documented and categorized systematically, with a large number of texts and prescriptions handed down over centuries. China also has a lot of rare plants, and I hope to study this treasure trove and discover potential medicines from it.

We do not expect our research to produce quick results as it is a long process. But in the long run, this kind of research will help improve human health in the future, and will benefit not only the Chinese, but also people in Africa, the United States, Europe and other regions.

(Interviewed by Zheng Yingying)