In a laboratory near Shanghai’s futuristic magnetic levitation train track, dozens of scientists are studying how to convert medicines described in Chinese texts written 2,000 years ago into modern western treatments.

The Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (Simm), founded in the 1930s and reinforced through co-operation with international pharmaceutical companies over the past decade, is one of many organisations that hope for fresh medical breakthroughs inspired by ancient lore.