Introduction

This book discusses the application of molecular biology in resource science and authentication of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It also reviews the latest developments in pharmacognosy, introduces new perspectives and insights, discusses the hotspots and focuses in the field of molecular pharmacognosy, and predicts new directions of study. In the last five years, the technologies and scope of molecular pharmacognosy have constantly expanded and evolved. As such, this new edition includes extra content, such as the molecular phylogeography of medicinal plants, functional genome of medicinal plants, and synthetic biology of active compounds. Elucidating the concept, theory, and methodology of molecular pharmacognosy, it promotes the full use of the newly developed technologies and methodologies within the framework of molecular pharmacognosy to solve problems in the field.