Rummaging Nature’s Arsenal: Botanicals versus SARS-Cov-2
Channel: UPLB MNH
Date: 2020-09-29

MNH 44th Anniversary Webinar Session 1: “Rummaging Nature’s Arsenal: Botanicals versus SARS-Cov-2” by Dr. Lourdes B. Cardenas, UPLB Museum of Natural History Curator for Medicinal Plants

ABSTRACT OF TALK

Covid-19 caught us by surprise. This despite the lessons of history, the warnings from infectious disease experts in recent years and the publication of a supposed fiction story that chillingly details what is happening now in this pandemic. In the mad scramble to find a potent weapon, or weapons, against the enemy SARS-CoV-2, drug development is fast tracked, selected mainstream drugs are repurposed and multifaceted approach with varied therapies are tried. Drug discovery, which requires time, remains as a secondary option. Could we find potent antivirals from the diversity of plants to fight SARS-CoV-2? As in any warfare, the enemy has to be profiled way before the plan of attack and the actual encounter. Its weak spots have to be considered. In this fight, we are not dealing with a living organism. It is ‘just’ the viral envelope holding the RNA genome. Yet it is this simplicity in structure that brought to mainstream media the terms ‘PCR’, ‘antigen’ and ‘vaccine’. We could not mount an attack against this minute entity by simply rummaging our arsenal. It has to be a targeted search. This talk will present information on possible phytochemicals that can be used to address certain aspects of COVID-19.