A Novel Research Technology to Explore the Mystery of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Optogenetics

Table 1

Selected modern research of TCM in the international journal.

Technique/method	Related research in TCM	Functional outcome	Year/Ref
Molecular imaging	Neurological diseases (MCAO, AD, PD, Stroke)	Monitoring the function of diseases	2013
Molecular biology	Chinese herb (Rhizoma Paridis)	Assessed the effects of activity component in disease	2015
RCT	Chinese prescription/herb(Qili Qiangxin Capsules, Xuezhikang)	Entered the FDA clinical trial in the United States	2013; 2014
Omics	TCM Zheng	Offered the long-standing clinical and phenotypic-rich insights at the same time	2013
Network pharmacology	Chinese herb	Revealed the combinatorial rules and network regulation effects of herbal formulae	2013
Big data	TCM Database@Taiwan	Provided the main sources of information on the chemical profiles of TCM	2011
GDET	Chinese traditional medicine plant (Viola yedoensis Makino)	Enabled to assay target-genetic differential expression after TCM treatment in a high-throughput manner	2015
Nanocarriers	Absorptive method of TCM	Delivered the active TCM ingredients or fractions	2015
NDS	Models and methods research of TCM	Characterized different constitutional types and document the evolution and dynamics of whole-person healing and well-being over time	2012
High-tech acupuncture	Traditional acupuncture technique (RCA, RAA, electroacupuncture, laser acupuncture)	Helped clinical acupuncture practice to progress and prove some fundamental principles of traditional acupuncture practice	2009

Source: MCAO, middle cerebral artery occlusion; AD, Alzheimer’s disease; PD, Parkinson’s disease; NDS, nonlinear dynamical complex systems; RCT, randomized controlled clinical trials; GDET, gene differential expression technology; RCA, robot-controlled acupuncture; RAA, robot-assisted acupuncture.