When Drugs Leave Their Place of Origin: Situating Chinese Medicine in the Context of Regional Migration

Chinese medicine has a long tradition of thinking about the relationship between the places where drugs originate and their efficacy. New digital tools allow us to trace long chains of connections—from ancient Chinese documents and historical geography, through modern botany and biochemistry, as well as across different regional languages. These, in turn, invite new applications in conservation and medical agriculture, and the discovery of novel uses for these ancient drugs in their new environs.