Editorial: Resonance April 2016

The 1960’s and ‘70s were a heady period for medical science. It seemed that the three-pronged attack of chemical synthesis, antibiotics, and molecular biology would defeat the ancient scourges of mankind. Today’s scenario is much more realistic. Progress against cancer, heart disease, and diabetes has been much slower than anticipated – or even promised – a few decades ago. Bacteria continue to develop strains resistant to new antibiotics. In this context, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology points in a different direction. We present two articles which remind readers that there is unexplored promise for medicine in the natural world, some of it residing in traditional practices which did not receive much attention from mainstream medicine