[Inspiration to basic researches of traditional Chinese medicine from the 2001 Nobel Prize].
The contributions of the three winners (L Hartwell, RT Hunt and PM Nurse) of the 2001 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine revealed the mystical veil of cell cycle control. It was of far-reaching significance for exploring new method for cancer treatment. It will also give a good deal of enlightenment to the basic research of traditional Chinese medicine. Their understanding about the cause and development of cancers changed from the static view to dynamic dialectical analysis, from simplex study to comprehensive analysis; they stressed regulation, instead of killing in the treatment of cancer; and they thought that the numerous factors driving the normal process of the cell cycle could be summarized as positive and negative factors. These opinions were similar to some theories of traditional Chinese medicine, such as treatment based on syndrome differentiation, integrative treatment, and keeping the balance between yin and yang, and established a connection between traditional Chinese medicine and the western medicine, which would further widen the research on compound prescriptions of Chinese herbs.
Wang
Dai-Shu
DS
Laboratory of Cell biology, School of Oncology, Peking University; Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, Beijing 100034, China.
Liang
Yun-Yan
YY
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D009613:Nobel Prize