More modern biological technologies are going to be applied in the field
of Traditional Chinese Medicine, providing powerful support for human health.
By Dr. Dai Jiongjie
We first need to understand what biomedical science is. Biomedicine is an interdisciplinary field that integrates medicine, life sciences, and biology to study and solve life science, especially medical problems, through the theoretical framework and methods developed from these areas. Biopharmaceuticals, used in this context, refer to drugs extracted from organisms or synthesized using biotechnology, fundamentally distinct from chemically synthesized drugs that can be entirely man-made.
Both biotechnology and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) currently have numerous constituents and products that are closely related to our daily lives, ranging from significant contributions to human life sciences to intricate details in our daily routines. Examples include childhood vaccinations like cowpox; vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic; biologically active personal care products; popular spa-grade natural essential oils; thymic peptides for immune enhancement; and the current widespread use and technological transformation of stem cells and immune cells, among others.
With the progress of the times and the continuous improvement of scientific technology, modern biomedicine is entering a new era driven by the Human Genome Project, with three major development trends worth noting, which coincidentally align with TCM principles.
The first trend: Transitioning from the simplistic molecular biomedicine mindset to the complex systems biomedicine mindset. TCM has always regarded the human body as a holistic system with interconnected components affecting each other. Normal physiological activities rely on the coordinated function of various organs and tissues to maintain physiological balance. In diagnosing and analyzing disease conditions, TCM also begins with a holistic perspective, focusing on overall pathological changes caused by local lesions and integrating them with systemic pathological reactions. Treatment of local lesions must also consider the whole system and adopt appropriate measures.
The second trend: Moving from evidence-based medicine rooted in statistical research to precision medicine focusing on individual molecular characteristics. TCM has always focused on individual characteristics, requiring tailored approaches based on factors such as age, constitution, season, and the nature of the disease, using differential diagnosis and treatment. For instance, two diabetic patients would receive different treatments based on TCM diagnosis – supplementing yin for one (using medicines like wolfberry, lily, anemarrhena, polygonatum, and cornus) and clearing heat and dampness for the other (using poria, polyporus, alisma, coix seed, patchouli, bupleurum, and scutellaria). This is called “treating the same disease differently,” emphasizing individualized treatment.
The third trend: Shifting from disease-centered clinical medicine to health-centered preventive medicine, aligning with TCM’s advocacy of “preventing disease before it occurs.” Both TCM and Western medicine recognize the importance of preventive medicine.
The spectrum of human diseases has shifted from primarily infectious diseases to mainly chronic diseases. Chronic diseases often manifest subclinical or preclinical states before clinical symptoms appear, with a much larger high-risk population than the diseased population. For example, there are currently 100 million diabetes patients in China, but the high-risk prediabetes population reaches around 500 million. This “window period” of disease evolution provides a new approach to combating chronic diseases—strengthening early monitoring of population health and intervening early upon detection of subhealth or pre-disease states.
Therefore, we can use biomedical technologies such as gene testing and biomarker monitoring to detect and intervene early in chronic diseases, while also striving to eliminate diseases from their genetic roots, minimizing the impact of diseases and chronic conditions. TCM principles and practices, such as dietary adjustments, lifestyle improvements, and herbal medicine, also help prevent disease occurrence, maintain optimal bodily balance, and promote longevity and resistance to diseases. The goals of both Chinese and Western medicine are aligned.
Modern research has found that many superior TCM herbs contain abundant bioactive components with nourishing, strengthening, and anti-aging properties. Examples include ginseng, astragalus, Chinese yam, reishi mushroom, cistanche, eucommia, and epimedium. With technological advancements, these medicinal properties can be effectively extracted and utilized, such as ginsenosides in facial masks, whitening skincare products with dendrobium polysaccharides and panax notoginseng saponins, oral solutions containing jujube saponins A/B, and hair care products with Morinda officinalis polysaccharides and eucommia alcohol glycosides.
Some believe that biotechnology has ushered in a new era of skincare products by not merely repairing but fundamentally controlling gene expression problems, supplementing bioactive factors, regulating and improving skin growth environments at the molecular level, promoting healthy cell growth, and ultimately replacing aging cells. This type of biotechnology is a target of continuous effort for numerous skincare brands and research centers. Every year, new biotechnology patents are publicly disclosed, put into production, and launched into the market.
In TCM, the best herbs with bioactivity are referred to as “sensible nourishing materials,” which strengthen the liver and kidneys, strengthen tendons and bones, and enrich essence and blood through animal-based medicines that have blood, flesh, and emotional connections to humans or animals. Notably, these sensible nourishing materials are limited to animal-based medicines that focus on supplementing and strengthening vitality; while medicines like calculus bovis, musk, buffalo horn, and bear gall used for “attacking pathogenic factors” do not fall into this category. Perhaps our ancestors believed that only substances aiding the body’s immune system deserve this title of “sensible,” aligning with modern biomedical practices of using immune cell therapies.
For instance, I consider the medicinal herb that best combines modern biomedical research with TCM to be the “queen of nourishing herbs” in TCM – deer antler velvet, which is the placenta shed by a newborn. The term “deer antler velvet” originated in the Tang Dynasty’s “Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica.” When born, the placenta is red and turns purple upon exposure to oxygen, symbolizing the baby’s journey across the river of life, carried by the placenta as a raft, hence the name “deer antler velvet.” The book describes its benefits: “When a child is conceived, it depends on the mother’s umbilical cord, the fetus depends on the mother’s spine, and is nourished by the mother’s blood. This natural product clearly possesses vital essence, with long-term use leading to enhanced hearing and vision, black hair, and longevity.” If you’ve raised pets like cats or dogs, you’ll know that they invariably eat their placentas after giving birth for postnatal nutrition, inspiring ancient Chinese physicians who, through extensive practice, summarized the medicinal effects of “deer antler velvet”.
Modern research has discovered that human placenta contains a wealth of beneficial amino acids, lipopolysaccharides, peptides, trace elements, and growth factors like EGF. Through biological extraction and purification techniques, clinical formulations like placental peptide injections, placental lipopolysaccharide injections, and placental tissue fluid have been developed to boost immunity, reduce inflammation and infection, and delay ovarian aging. Over the past decade, techniques for extracting stem cells from human umbilical cords and placental tissues have also been developed. Through biotechnology cultivation and amplification, these stem cells can treat and delay tissue and organ aging. Immune cells such as NK, CIIK, CAR-T cells, etc., effectively eliminate senescent cells and kill cancer cells, making diseases like cancer and AIDS no longer incurable.
In the future, traditional Chinese medicine will incorporate more modern biological technologies, allowing our health centenary plan to have endless possibilities. However, we still need to maintain medical rigor in clinical research, as biological science is still young, with many topics yet to be conquered. I firmly believe that as biological technology research deepens and traditional TCM treasures are explored from multiple dimensions, there will be more collisions and integrations, truly achieving what we often say: “Chinese as the foundation, Western as the application, and integration of both.”
Dai Jiongjie is the Executive Dean of the Shanghai Precision Functional Medicine Institute. A Chief Physician and disciple of medical luminary Wang Ximing, he specializes in treating musculoskeletal diseases and rehabilitating sub-healthy populations with spinal and joint issues. Dai integrates traditional Chinese and Western medicine, practicing in the Netherlands. He provides unique insights and treatments for sub-health syndromes and aging prevention. A former visiting lecturer at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he is also a contributing writer for health columns.