This book addresses many diverse topics related to various aspects of the traditional and modem uses of medicinal plants in an unprecedented manner furnishing the reader with valid knowledge through a treasury of scientific information under one cover. This handbook serves as a state-of-the-art source of information for researchers and educators and is highly recommended. It includes a concise account of the latest developments in the field of medicinal plants the history of medicinal plants in different cultures the latest developments in medicinal applications and the hopes dangers and challenges involved in carrying out research in this multidisciplinary area. An extensive bibliography allows the reader to consult the original publications for further information. About the Author Zobara Yaniv received her masters degree in biochemistry from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and her PhD in plant biochemistry from Columbia University. Dr. Yaniv worked at the Boyce Thompson Insti- lUte for Plant Research in New York. Since 1978 she has been a senior scientist at the Department of Medicinal Plants at the Institute of Field Crops in the Agricultural Research Center of Israel. She was appointed professor at Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan and the Faculty of Agriculture a1 The Hebrew University Jerusalem. She is a former visiting scientist at the University of Paris; the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland; Lubbock University in Texas; and the Weitzmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth Israel. Dr. Yaniv has also been a visiting professor at the University of Vienna Austria and Shanghai University China. For six summers Dr. Yanivs scientific work includes research in ethnobotany of the Middle East with special emphasis on the Holy Land. This research resulted in numerous publications and a book entitled Medicinal Plants of the Holy land; published in Hebrew and English (2000). She has been an invited speaker at various international meetings on medicinal plants. Uriel Bachrachis a professor emeritus of Molecular Biology at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem. Dr. Bachrach is the former head of the Department of Molecular Biology President of the Israel Society of Biochemistry and Advisor in Biotechnology to the Prime Ministers Office of the State of Israel. He is a former visiting professor at the University of California San Francisco; Northwestern University; the University of Addis Ababa Ethiopia; and Bologna University in Italy. He is a former visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland as well as Columbia University in New York the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and Deutsche Krebs Forschung Zentrum (DKFZ) in Heidelberg Germany.