From the majestic Appalachian Mountains to the sandy Outer Bank beaches, there is much to appreciate about the natural beauty of North Carolina. Among the flora, some scientists also see potential economic opportunities in the nearly 5,000 native plant species. North Carolina is one of the most biodiverse regions in the country. At the Bent Creek Institute in Asheville scientists are exploring ways to help develop natural medicinal botanicals and tap into the international natural products industry.
"Western North Carolina is an incredibly special place," said Director Jo-Ann McCoy. "The region remained unglaciated in the last three ice ages which is pretty special so this portion of the continent as the glaciers receded served as the seed source to reseed the rest of North America all the way up which is incredibly important from a genetic point of view this is the source material."
McCoy believes this source material is so important it needs to be preserved and studied. As part of her research and conservation efforts at the Bent Creek Institute she collects native plant specimens across the state. Specimens are placed in a plant press and GPS coordinates are recorded to note the exact location where the plants were harvested.
McCoy would like to gather as many specimens as possible for her Germplasm Repository. "We love the fact we can provide research specimens for our area researchers and put science behind the medicinal properties of a lot of these plants so it's just an exciting concept and project."
Along with wild seed collection Bent Creek develops its own controlled seed samples. This method allows researchers to use material that otherwise might be unsustainable when harvesting in the wild.
The seed bank is officially known as the Medicinal Plant Germplasm Repository, the only of its kind in North America. It's here where plant specimens are dried and prepared for conservation. The seeds are harvested along with the plant material and stored in specially designed cabinets.
The germ bank is patterned after the Nordic gene bank in Norway which backs up every gene bank in the world. "Well right now with temperature changes and the threat of zone creep it's really imperative to get as many species into seed banks as possible," said McCoy. "It's the best method to store long term to preserve species."
The lab is also developing a plant extract library that will allow researchers to analyze the properties and potential benefits of botanicals. "It's sort of a way of taking that plant material and manipulating them enough so that researchers can run it thru their equipment and try to determine what is making up this plant and is there something in there that we can use either as a medicine or some kind of natural product," said Research Technician Jeff Levi. "Most shampoos have extracts of botanicals in them and since we have such a diverse flora in North Carolina not all of them have been looked at that this really is a prime opportunity to explore some of these and see what our native plants can provide in terms of natural products."
Unlocking the secrets of North Carolina's biodiversity and exploring related potential economic development opportunities is what the Bent Creek Institute is trying to foster. "What we want to do is take the advancement in life science biotechnology and other sciences in North Carolina and beyond and build a scientifically validated commercial sector around botanical medicines and what we refer to as natural biotechnology," said George Briggs, Executive Director of the N.C. Arboretum.
Bent Creek is located on the campus of the North Carolina Arboretum. It began as a project of the arboretum and the University of North Carolina, with support from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The hope is the work that is going on at BCI will lead to the development of botanical medicine companies that will look to BCI for assistance and new product discovery.
"The possibilities with integrative health are pretty endless right now," said Briggs. "There's a general movement nationally and internationally back to the natural we see it in foods we see it in organic products we see it in the medicines and the cost of healthcare and the complications of the single molecule pharmaceutical model that we've had for the last number of decades."
In a new area of medicinal botanical research, Bent Creek is studying plant fungi--known as endophytes to see what disease fighting properties they might have. Endophytes are fungi that grow inside the plant. Much like microbial flora in our stomachs, plant fungi have the same beneficial properties.
At Bent Creek the hope is botanicals might have the potential to fix what ails us physically and economically. "I think the potential is very great," said McCoy. "I think a really good idea would be to attract more companies who are going to develop the products here. There’s a definite market for the growers."
George Briggs agrees. He says the potential is great both nationally and internationally. "We believe the botanicals must be adequately conserved, but we also believe they perhaps have keys to economic development and job creation that are untapped."
The Bent Creek Institute currently has about 750 preserved plant specimens it hopes to double that number in the next two years. While conservation is an important function of the institute, BCI is working closely with a number of companies and organizations to develop an economic cluster around natural biotechnology and the commercialization of natural products.
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