Book excerpt: Plants and other living organisms have great potential to treat human disease. There are two distinct types of biomedical research that seek to develop this potential. One type of research explores the value of medicinal plants as traditionally used and studies of these plants have the potential to determine which plants are most potent, optimize dosages and dose forms, and identify safety risks. Another type of research uses bioassays to identify single molecules from plants that have interesting bioactivities in isolation and might be useful lead compounds for the development of pharmaceutical drugs. This new volume of Advances in Botanical Research covers the recent trends in Medicinal Plants Research over 11 chapters. Topics that are covered include Development of Drugs from Plants - Regulation and Evaluation, Chinese Herbal Medicines for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Taxol, camptothecin and beyond for cancer therapy. Covers the recent trends in medicinal plants research over 11 chapters Topics that are covered include Development of Drugs from Plants - Regulation and Evaluation, Chinese Herbal Medicines for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Taxol, camptothecin and beyond for cancer therapy