Research on Essential Oils, part I

Gary Young discusses how Young Living is working with others to identify natural compounds that can be used for medicine.

I am really excited to associate with Brigham Young University professor Rex Cates. The research department at BYU is extremely well equipped and Professor Cates’ work is in identifying natural compounds that can be used for medicine. I’d like to tell you a little bit about the natural products research center that Professor Cates is involved with and also suggest a few things about why this kind of research is so important.

What’s happening here in our world? There is a tremendous increase in infectious diseases—a subject well documented in the book The Coming Plague by Lori Garrett. What’s happening is that because many of these infectious organisms are able to adapt, they actually scarf up DNA and use that DNA to detoxify or cause resistance to our drugs. That in itself is a good reason why we should be looking at natural products, and essential oils are on the front line here as possibilities.

Our environment is also changing, and as the world around us changes, we have to deal with different organisms. This is what Professor Cates is addressing. He has a broad perspective and knows that we need to resolve issues with infectious diseases and also understand how to better preserve the resources that are all around us.

Our overall goal is to look at natural products and put some science and validation behind them. Our next goal is to provide some opportunities for research; we want to train and educate students in three areas of focus: the biological, the human, and the molecular division. In the biological dimension we’re very interested in conserving resources. The human dimension deals with ethnobotany and indigenous people’s use of natural resources. And then the molecular dimension deals with the aspects of oils that can be beneficial to improving health.

Essentially Yours,

Gary Young

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