ABSTRACT
Chinese materia medica (CMM) defines health as the balance of whole body system and medications are designed to restore this balance. Unlike western medicine that generally uses a single chemical entity and sets a single physiological target, the efficacy herbal formulations in CMM results from complex mixtures of numerous chemical components which simultaneously interact with multiple molecular targets. CMM clinically shows the advantages over western medicine in the treatment of some multi-gene and multifactor diseases, yet the adoption of CMM stemmed from natural animals and plants in modern society is impeded by lack of quality control and absence of scientific proof of their effectiveness. Currently, the development of combinatorial medicines and system biology provide new opportunities to modernize the CMM. Thus, this review focuses on the modernization of CMM by employing the concept of combination therapy and cutting-edge biomedical technologies such as proteomics, biochip, and chemical biology. Moreover, the author puts forward the new ideas and methodologies for the discovery of modern multicomponent drugs from CMM.