The race to save endangered traditional Chinese medicine ingredients

Editor's note: CGTN presents "New Trends," which explores new trends among Chinese people as well as their underlying causes. We focus on the impacts of China's reform and opening up, emphasizing the modernization strategies outlined by the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This era of transformation, driven by new productive forces, is reshaping Chinese people's lifestyles and daily experiences, blending tradition with innovation to redefine how they live and work.

In some forests of Asia, the musk deer once roamed freely, its existence little known to most, except for those who sought the precious substance it carried.

Musk, a fragrant compound derived from a small gland in male musk deer, has been highly valued for centuries, not only in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), but also in perfumes. In the 1970s, musk was worth its weight in gold, and the pursuit of this substance led to a tragic decline in the musk deer population.

Poachers, driven by such enormous profits from musk, set steel traps deep in the woods. The traps were ruthless, tightening around the animals' limbs as they struggled, immobilizing them until death claimed them. The poachers would then cut out the musk gland, no larger than a small egg, and leave the rest of the body behind.

As early as 2002, the conservation status of the musk deer in China was upgraded from second to first class due to their sharply declining numbers. However, this upgrade did not lead to a population recovery. Conservationists argue that as long as there is a demand for musk, poaching and illegal trade will continue to threaten the species.

For TCM practitioners like Yu Shishan, director of the Laboratory of Active Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines at the Institute of Materia Medica, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the challenge is not just about conservation, it's about preserving the sustainability of TCM itself. 

"If our precious herbs and animal materials are gone one by one, how should TCM be passed on and developed?" Yu Shishan asked.

In 1975, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences embarked on a groundbreaking project: the synthesis of artificial musk. 

According to academician Yu Dequan from the Natural Medicine Chemistry Laboratory of the Institute of Materia Medica, who is the principal contributor to the research team, the annual demand for musk in China at that time exceeded 15 tonnes, leading to a severe supply-demand imbalance.

"With the unmet needs of the public for medicine and the difficulty in protecting animal resources, this situation could not continue," Yu recalled.

Starting from scratch, the team faced nearly two decades of research, with only a single kilogram of natural musk as their raw material. They meticulously studied its chemical composition, active substances, pharmacological effects and formulation principles. Their persistence paid off in 1993 when they successfully created synthetic musk, which was granted the first-class new drug certificate for TCM.

Today, synthetic musk is priced at over 60,000 yuan per kilogram, a significant reduction compared to more than one million yuan per kilogram that wild musk commands. Of the 433 TCM products that once contained musk, 431 have now fully transitioned to synthetic musk, according to the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

The success of synthetic musk is a testament to the determination of TCM researchers to find sustainable solutions for endangered ingredients. Yet, the issue is far from resolved. The high market value of endangered medicinal materials continues to drive illegal harvesting, further endangering species and threatening biodiversity.

While musk deer can be raised in captivity, they are highly sensitive and prone to stress reactions, making the yield of farmed musk insufficient to meet market demand.

"A decline or extinction of species can reduce biodiversity and impair the normal functioning of ecosystems," noted Sun Quanhui, a scientist from World Animal Protection. "The Earth is a shared home for humans and all living organisms. The disappearance of species and the degradation of the ecological environment also threaten the survival and development of human society."

In 2011, Yu Shishan, a student of Yu Dequan who focuses on synthetic musk research, led his team to turn their attention to other critical ingredients, including bear bile. Bear bile has been used in TCM for centuries. It is believed to calm the liver, clear heat, remove toxins and promote bile secretion. Traditionally, this meant hunting and killing bears—primarily black bears, brown bears and Malayan sun bears—to extract their bile. However this practice has taken a devastating toll on bear populations.

In 2012, Gui Zhen Tang, a pharmaceutical company which turned a profit by taking and processing bear bile for medical powders, capsules and other products, awaited approval to trade on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Board. The company reignited concerns across China, as the drainage procedure often led to wound infections and involved bears being encased in "iron vests" to prevent the tubes from becoming damaged or displaced. As a result, the company dropped its IPO amid the bile debate.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that the wild population of Asian black bears has declined by 30-49 percent in recent decades, with fewer than 20,000 remaining in the wild, Sun Quanhui told CGTN.

In 2011, Yu Shishan started researching on synthetic bear bile. Through seven years of rigorous study, they identified almost all the chemical components in bear bile. They conducted in-depth pharmacological evaluations and discovered 24 active substances, which they then synthesized using a new process integrating enzyme engineering and chemical synthesis technologies. 

The purity of six key active substances exceeded 98 percent, offering a safer and more controllable alternative to traditional bear bile extraction.

"The quality and safety of synthetic bear bile are more controllable than the drainage bile," Yu Shishan explained. This breakthrough could be crucial in reducing the demand for wild bear bile, thereby alleviating one of the main threats to the survival of Asian black bears.

"To better protect this species, it is essential to strengthen habitat conservation, accelerate the development and promotion of bear bile alternatives, and facilitate the transition and phasing out of bear farming," said Sun.

The success stories of synthetic musk and bear bile are part of a broader movement in China to promote the conservation and sustainable use of endangered medicinal resources in TCM.

In August, World Animal Protection and Health News launched the "Wildlife-friendly Medicine Network," a platform designed to explore humane alternatives to wildlife-derived ingredients in TCM. The initiative brings together leading pharmaceutical companies, industry associations, research institutions, doctors, academics and conservation experts to accelerate the sustainable development of traditional medicine.

China's strategy for preserving endangered medicinal resources is multi-faceted. It involves phasing out materials like tiger bones and rhino horns, restricting the use of items like musk and bear bile, and regulating usage procedures with resource assessments to promote sustainability, Yang Guang, deputy director of the Conservation and Industry Research Office at the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences' Traditional Chinese Medicine Resource Center, said at the launch ceremony held in Shenyang City.

"If these endangered medicinal materials become unavailable or their use becomes too costly, many TCM products will face a crisis of raw material shortages, resulting in irreversible damage to the development of TCM in China," Yang said.

There is still a long way to go.

The development of TCM not only needs to inherit the traditional essence, but also has to make full use of modern science and technology to develop high-quality, equivalent and inexpensive substitutes for endangered medicinal materials, so as to promote the healthy, green and sustainable development of traditional medicine, Sun told CGTN.

Behind these achievements lies generations of Chinese pharmaceutical researchers. From the older generation of scholars like Yu Dequan to their students like Yu Shishan, Chinese pharmaceutical scientists have dedicated tireless efforts to exploration of medicinal needs and species protection.

"When I started this research, I was a young man. Now, with a head full of gray hair, I'm still deeply immersed in this work," Yu Shishan said.