Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been practiced in China for thousands of years. In the past decade, there have been intensive debates in China about the nature of this ancient practice and its future development. Some critics argue that TCM theories are inaccurate descriptions of the human body that verge on imagination, and so have no place in modern healthcare systems. Other, however, say that TCM has a lot to offer to Western science and medicine and that emerging analytical tools hold great potentials in bridging the gap between the two worlds with contrasting philosophy and approaches.
In a forum chaired by National Science Review's Executive Associate Editor Mu-ming Poo, five panelists from diverse backgrounds discussed the differences between TCM and Western science and medicine, recent progress in TCM research, and key challenges in modernizing this ancient practice.
Hongxin Cao
Director of Science and Technology Bureau, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People's Republic of China
Aiping Lu
Dean of the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University
Yiling Wu
President of Hebei Academy of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine
Boli Zhang
President of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and President of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Liping Zhao
Professor and former deputy director of the Shanghai Center for System Biology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Mu-ming Poo (Chair)
Neuroscientist and Director of Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neurosciences in Shanghai
When the East meets the West: the future of traditional Chinese medicine in the 21st century
