The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Council of Medical Research for collaborative research on exploring therapeutic potential of medicinal plants and fungi.
The Chemistry Division of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun has been working on isolation and characterisation of known or novel compounds from natural forest resources having therapeutic potential. Similarly, Forest Pathology Division of FRI has a collection of more than 1,000 forest fungi and some of them have been reported to have medicinal properties. The therapeutic potential of these compounds and medicinal fungi, the Director General, ICFRE had written to the Director General, ICMR to enter into an understanding to do collaborative research to tap the therapeutic potential for human welfare. The proposal was welcomed by the ICMR DG. The MoU is slated to be signed by ICMR DG Dr Vishwa Mohan Katoch and ICFRE DG Kantharaj Judesekar at the FRI in Dehradun on Tuesday.
The MoU is aimed at facilitating phytochemical and pharmacological screening of Indian medicinal plants and medicinal fungi for two types of biological activities- anti-cancereous and anti-diabetic activity. It will also help in the preclinical development of bioactive natural products and their analogs as chemotherapeutic agents.
This collaborative research programme will focus on to find out a novel source of anti-cancerous and ant-diabetic compounds, their synthesis and study of structure-activity relationship. The areas of cooperation will include any programme offered at either institution as thought desirable and feasible on either side and that both sides think will contribute to the fostering and development of the cooperative relationship between the two institutions.