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.