An indigenous Chinese herb similar to the popular garden sage in the West has been used to treat a variety of diseases since time immemorial.

It is called danshen, or Salvia miltiorrhiza in Latin.

Despite its popularity, Xuan Lijiang, a scientist at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, did not expect his research would herald a new wave in the study of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at the molecular level, when he took it up 13 years ago.

His assignment, along with his colleagues, was to study the chemical ingredients of the herbal plant.

A little more than a decade on, Xuan has been recognized for his contributions to the creation of an innovative drug that is licensed by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

The drug, called Depsides salts and extracted from the Chinese sage danshen, has also reportedly led dozens of institutes and pharmaceutical firms to launch research programmes to find effective molecules from other traditional medicines.

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