Pathway 01 — Ethnobotany
The Ethnobotany of Dragon’s Blood:
From Rainforest to Pharmacy
How does a latex used by Amazonian healers for centuries become the first oral botanical drug approved by the U.S. FDA? Steven King traces the full journey of Croton lechleri — from indigenous knowledge to global clinical medicine..
● 6 modules
● 20 lessons
● 1 hour
● All levels
Steven King, PhD
Ethnobotanistr
course overview
“This course is a case study in what’s possible when indigenous knowledge and western science build on each other rather than compete. Sangre de Drago has been a living pharmacy for the people of the northwest Amazon for as long as anyone can remember. What we did was listen — and then follow the evidence all the way to an FDA-approved drug”
what you will learn
Trace the ethnobotanical research pathway that transformed Croton lechleri latex into Crofelemer — the first oral botanical pharmaceutical approved by the U.S. FDA
Understand the chemistry and mechanism of action of Crofelemer, including its role as a non-opioid modulator of chloride ion channels
Examine the supply chain, sustainable harvesting protocols, and standard operating procedures required for a botanical API at pharmaceutical grade
Explore the ecology of Croton lechleri as a pioneer species — growth rates, reforestation, and year-round harvesting stability
Analyse the social and ethical dimensions of benefit-sharing with Asháninka, Achuar, Quichua, and other Amazonian communities who steward this resourc
Assess the broader clinical applications of Crofelemer — from HIV/AIDS diarrhea and cholera to short bowel syndrome and pediatric microvillus inclusion disease
course sYllabus
free preview — Module 1 · Lesson 1
watch free
Introduction to Sangre de Drago: Transforming the Dragon’s Blood Tree Latex into Modern Medicine
Steven King opens by establishing the central premise of the entire course: drugs do grow on trees. He introduces Croton lechleri — Sangre de Drago — and the FDA-approved pharmaceuticals Mytesi and Canalevia derived from its latex, situating this achievement within a decades-long ethnobotanical investigation conducted alongside indigenous healers across the northwest Amazon Basin.
aprox: 3 minutes
about the instructor
Steven King, PhD
Ethnobotanist
Steven King has spent four decades bridging the knowledge systems of Amazonian indigenous communities and western pharmaceutical science. As a founding ethnobotanist at Shaman Pharmaceuticals and later at Jaguar Health, he led the field research, supply chain development, and interdisciplinary collaboration that culminated in Crofelemer — the active pharmaceutical ingredient derived from Croton lechleri latex and now approved by the U.S. FDA as Mytesi. His work established rigorous protocols for ethnobotanical drug development: fair benefit-sharing, sustainable harvesting at scale, and ensuring that the intellectual contributions of indigenous knowledge holders are formally credited in scientific literature. A student of Richard Evans Schultes, King represents a generation of ethnobotanists for whom the rainforest and the laboratory are inseparable.
Ethnobotany
Drug discovery
Indigenous knowledge
Sustainable supply chains
Amazonian plants
this course in context
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