HERBAL MEDICINE HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND PRACTICED BY MULTIPLE INDIGENOUS CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD FOR MILLENNIA. IN MODERN MEDICINE, OF THE 175 THERAPEUTIC SMALL MOLECULES APPROVED BY FDA FOR TREATING CANCER SINCE 1940, 131, OR 74.8%, ARE OTHER THAN SYNTHETIC, WITH 85, OR 48.6%, ACTUALLY BEING EITHER NATURAL PRODUCTS OR DIRECTLY DERIVED THEREFROM. AMONG NATURAL PRODUCTS-DERIVED MODERN MEDICINES, 25% COME FROM PLANTS. RECENT ADVANCES IN FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF PLANT SPECIALIZED METABOLISM AND THE ABILITY TO ENGINEER PLANT NATURAL PRODUCT BIOSYNTHESIS IN HETEROLOGOUS HOSTS GREATLY EXPEDITE OUR ABILITY TO HARNESS THE MEDICINAL VALUES OF PLANTS TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES. IN THE PROJECT, WE FOCUS ON TWO RELATED CLASSES OF MEDICINAL PEPTIDE NATURAL PRODUCTS INITIALLY ISOLATED FROM THE CHINESE MEDICINAL PLANT LYCIUM BARBARUM (GOJI BERRY) AND DENDROCNIDE MOROIDES (AUSTRALIAN STINGING TREE). BY ELUCIDATING AND ENGINEERING THE BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS FOR THESE NATURAL PRODUCTS, THIS RESEARCH WILL OPEN UP TREMENDOUS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR GREATLY EXPANDING THE CHEMICAL SPACE OF CYCLIC PEPTIDES THROUGH THE MEANS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY APPROACH FOR BOTH AGRONOMICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS.