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Supramolecular medicinal chemistry field has been a quite rapidly developing, increasingly active and newly rising interdiscipline which is the new expansion of supramolecular chemistry in pharmaceutical sciences, and is gradually becoming a relatively independent scientific area. Supramolecular drugs could be defined as medicinal supermolecules formed by two or more molecules through noncovalent bonds. So far a lot of supermolecules as chemical drugs have been widely used in clinics. Supermolecules as chemical drugs, i.e. supramolecular chemical drugs or supramolecular drugs, which might have the excellences of lower cost, shorter period, higher potential as clinical drugs for their successful research and development, may possess higher bioavailability, better biocompatibility and drug-targeting, fewer multidrug-resistances, lower toxicity, less adverse effect, and better curative effects as well as safety, and therefore exhibit wide potential application. These overwhelming advantages have drawn enormous special attention. This paper gives the definition of supramolecular drugs, proposes the concept of supramolecular chemical drugs, and systematically reviews the recent advances in the research and development of supermolecules, including organic and inorganic complex ones as chemical drugs in the area of antitumor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungal, antivirus, anti-epileptic, cardiovascular agents and magnetic resonance imaging agents and so on. The perspectives of the foreseeable future and potential application of supramolecules as chemical drugs are also presented.

Ultra-barcoding is a technique using whole plastomes and nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences for plant species identification. Paris yunnanensis is a medicinal plant of great economic importance for the pharmaceutical industry. However, the alpha taxonomy of P. yunnanensis is still uncertain, hindering effective conservation and management of the germplasm. To resolve long-standing taxonomic disputes regarding this species, we newly generated the complete plastomes and nrDNA sequences from 22 P. yunnanensis accessions. Ultra-barcoding analyses suggest that P. yunnanensis as currently circumscribed is made up of two distinct genetic lineages, corresponding to the two phenotypes ("typical" and "high stem" form) identified early in our study. With distinct morphologies and distribution, the "high stem" form should be recognized as a previously unrecognized species; here it is described as a new species, P. liiana sp. nov. Moreover, the ultra-barcoding data do not support treatment of P. yunnanensis as a conspecific variety under Paris polyphylla. Our study represents a guiding practical application of ultra-barcoding for discovery of cryptic species in taxonomically challenging plant taxa. The findings highlight the great potential of ultra-barcoding as an effective tool for resolving perplexing problems in plant taxonomy.