Welcome to Bioassay Unit!
The Bioassay Unit within the Herbal Medicine Research Centre is represented by enthusiastic research members who are entrusted to undertake comprehensive efficacy research on the local medicinal plants for the development of herbal medicine with therapeutic claim. Based on the evidence of traditional use and ethnobotanical information, our unit work to identify potential leads by utilizing a battery of biological assays (cellular, biochemical, and molecular) to elucidate relevant mechanism of action from selected plant materials.
Upon the establishment of HMRC in year 2001 in Jalan Pahang, our unit started its first involvement in anti-malarial and anti-cancer research. Our expertise and capability to conduct the in vitro and in vivo research has broadened with time. To date, we are in Setia Alam and our current research forte include anti-viral, anti-bacterial, immunomodulatory and anti-aging properties of medicinal plants of interest. New and latest research techniques are continuously being developed in order to strengthen our research capacity. We are determined to produce high quality efficacy data via research by utilizing:
- In vitro phenotypic screening of extracts, compounds, and formulations of medicinal plant products by using established cell-based assays.
- Elucidating the mechanisms of action by various techniques such as gene expression, protein expression, cellular assays, immunofluorescent assays, and others.
- Conducting pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies on extracts, compounds, and product formulations of herbal medicines.
- Performing pre-clinical efficacy validation in animal disease models.
- Assisting in the conduct of clinical studies on standardised extracts, compounds, and formulations of herbal medicine products by providing pre-clinical efficacy data.
