NANNING, China — Middle Tennessee State University’s research partnership in China on modern uses of ancient herbal remedies has yielded almost 40 results showing promise in treating cancer, viral infections and other ailments.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee reads a sign at the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants in Nanning, China, that previews a set of plants used in the treatment of various ailments. The garden features more than 7,400 medicinal plants. (MTSU photos by Andrew Oppmann)

The report came this weekend as an MTSU delegation concluded  its visit to the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants.

Located in Nanning in southern China, the garden, named in 2011 as the world’s largest medicinal herb garden by the Guinness Book of World Records, features more than 7,400 medicinal plants.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and Miao Jianhua, vice president of the Guangxi Academic Science Institute and garden director, celebrated the partnership’s progress by christening an MTSU-branded Joint Research Center at the garden’s new research laboratory and headquarters.

“I am committed to making sure we produce groundbreaking research that will help the people of China, help the people of America and, perhaps, the people of the world,” McPhee said before the dedication. (Watch a video of the visit at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUgarden.)

The Tennessee Center for Botanical Medicine Research, based at MTSU, and the Guangxi garden are partners in an exclusive collaborative agreement to accelerate the development of Western medicines from plant extracts.

The partnership, which began in 2011, plays to the strengths of both institutions. Garden researchers cultivate and prepare extracts, and MTSU scientists, led by professor Elliot Altman, screen the samples to determine their promise in the treatment of ailments.

McPhee, who said he was impressed with Miao’s leadership in the project, also suggested that garden researchers help the university grow some botanical samples at MTSU’s 500-acre agriculture complex, the Guy James Farm.

“I think it has great potential, because our agricultural program is one of the best in the Southeast and we have a lot of good farmland,” McPhee said.

Using traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of diseases is an ancient and respected tradition widely accepted in the Far East and gaining in awareness in Western cultures.

This photo shows the sign outside the laboratory at the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants in Nanning, China, that brands the Joint Research Center with MTSU.

About 800 plants at the garden have been shown to have potential in treating a variety of diseases. Researchers at the garden have been preparing extracts from these plants, yielding a library of up to 400,000 compounds that MTSU researchers can explore.

Iris Gao, an MTSU assistant professor who accompanied Altman as a member of the China delegation, said the university would like to expand the extracts library even more.

She asked Miao to provide more extracts for study, and the director agreed, saying that MTSU “has what we need” to move the project forward. He said he would personally oversee the next phases of the partnership.

After unveiling the Joint Research Center’s sign outside the Guangxi laboratory, the delegation toured the garden as well as a nearby pharmaceutical industry park that is poised to produce products developed by the partnership.

MTSU’s delegation was headed by McPhee and includes state Senate Majority Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, a 1976 graduate of the university.

Ketron joined McPhee in signaling support for the partnership, saying that he felt the collaboration “held great promise for advancements in science and medicine.”

McPhee and Ketron also told their Chinese hosts about MTSU’s new $147 million Science Building, set to open in 2015, which will aid in the collaboration.

The university’s delegation has renewed or established relationships with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Hangzhou Normal University and the Research Institute of Industrial Design of Shunde. The delegation was set to visit institutions in Chongqing and Beijing before returning to Tennessee on Tuesday.

— Andrew Oppmann (andrew.oppmann@mtsu.edu)

A small section of the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants in Nanning, China, is shown in this photo.

Miao Jianhua, left, vice president of the Guangxi Academic Science Institute and director of its botanical garden, shakes hands with MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee after unveiling a sign outside the Nanning, China, laboratory that brands the Joint Research Center with the university. Also shown are State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, center; MTSU professor Elliot Altman and MTSU assistant professor Iris Gao.