Meet the medicine hunter

Chris Kilham is not only the man who introduced me to sushi food, back in 2002, but also to the job title of "Medicine Hunter." He is one.

Kilham is an ethnobotanist who distrusts drugs companies and has more faith in plants and herbs. And so he travels remote jungles in search for plants that can heal. He must have one of the coolest jobs in the world.

The profile I wrote for Ode is only available in Dutch (Ode didn't have English-language editions back then), but you may want to read the profile in the Jan. 1st edition of The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/business/worldbusiness/01hunter.html. It's an interesting read, and it points out to the promises of maca, a small root vegetable "that improves stamina, reduces the risk of prostate cancer and increases the motility, volume and quality of sperm." Kilham is now trying to save this plant to use it in modern healthcare.

posted by Marco Visscher on 1/ 3/2008 5:14 pm | COMMENTS (3)
Comments (3)

Hi again. I just wanted to mention that the slide show on the New York Times is produced by a different journalist, and is great in a very different way. It has many photos from Maca country. The direct link is:

A Medicine Hunter in Peru (slide show) New York Times Business Section, January 1st, 2008 www.nytimes.com/packages/html/business/20071227_HUNTER_FEATURE/index.html

posted by zoehelene on 1/21/2008 8:28 am

And he's hot too ; )

posted by zoehelene on 1/21/2008 7:51 am

Thx for posting Marco. Chris should have his own reality show...

posted by Barry Jacobs on 1/ 7/2008 3:36 pm

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