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The Importance of Plants in Human Life

Explore how humans rely on plants in various ways, from food production to medicinal uses. Discover the study of botany and ethnobotany, and the economic value of plant products. Learn about the role of plants in medicine and why synthetic drug development based on plant compounds is essential.

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The Importance of Plants in Human Life

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  1. KEY CONCEPT Humans rely on plants in many ways.

  2. Botany is the study of plants. Ethnobotany explores how people in different cultures use plants. Agriculture provides stable food supplies for people in permanent settlements.

  3. People started planting for harvest about 10,000 years ago. Teosinte • wild species “tamed” through artificial selection • farming requires people to stay in one place • farming helped more socially complex centers develop Teosinte is the ancestor of modern corn.

  4. Plant products have been traded for thousands of years. spices commonly used as currency in Middle Ages Plant products are important economic resources.

  5. Plant products contribute to economy on a global scale today. • grains, coffee, sugar, cotton, forest products • billions of dollars of plant products traded each year

  6. Question • What plants were used to make the clothes that you are wearing and the contents of your backpack? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZju3dBsHCk

  7. Pharmacology is the study of drugs and their effects on the body. Many drugs are derived from plants. Salicin from willow trees is used in aspirin. Alkaloids are potent plant chemicals that contain nitrogen. Alkaloids such as taxol have anti-cancer properties. Plant compounds are essential to modern medicine.

  8. We still are using plants medicinally! • We still use some plants medicinally in the same way they have been used for thousands of years. • Example-The Aloe Vera gel you can buy to soothe sunburn was used for the same purpose by the Egyptians 3,500 years ago.

  9. Some medical research focuses on properties of plant compounds. • studies plants used medicinally in traditional cultures • develop synthetic drugs based on plant compounds

  10. But WHY though??? • Why might it be important for chemists to develop synthetic drugs based on plant compounds?

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