药用植物马蓝（Baphicacanthus cusia） 是福建道地药材之一，由其茎叶加工而成的青黛，以福建产品质最佳， 被誉为建青黛。马蓝的根入药称南板蓝根，与青黛一起同为《中国药典》药材品种。由于药效确切，大量中成药以马蓝源性药材组方。 目前市场上以南板蓝根入药的中成药品种有17种， 含青黛的中成药品种则多达114种。近年来，非典、甲流及禽流感等流行病频频肆虐发威，市场上以马蓝为基源的中药材供不应求，造成马蓝的种植只重数量，不顾质量，马蓝的种质资源保护和驯化栽培没有得到重视。再加上近年来对生态环境的破坏，老百姓对野生马蓝药材的掠夺性开发，导致很难发现成片生长的野生马蓝。道地马蓝的优质种质资源正在面临流失、退化和灭绝的危险。建青黛等道地药材的资源安全、可持续发展和利用将难以为继。
青黛是中国传统医学常用药材，也是经中国海上丝绸之路出口海外的重要商品。在世界范围内，青黛作为染料、医药和化妆品的应用也已有数千年的历史。到目前为止，中国许多地方仍然使用天然靛蓝来染中国传统服装。
Natural indigo has been used as dye, medicine and cosmetics for thousands years in the world. Indigo also appeared in the Silk Road (on the sea) from China. Until now, many places in China still use natural indigo to dyeChinese traditional clothes.
一百年前，拜耳成功合成了靛蓝作为青黛的替代品，因而获得了诺贝尔奖。世界上每年以合成靛蓝生产蓝色牛仔服约40亿件，合成靛蓝产量约4.5万吨。
One hundred years ago, success in indigo synthesis helped Bayer won the Nobel prize. Cheaper synthetic indigo then replaced natural indigo. Every year, about 4 billion blue cowboy garments and 45 thousand tons synthetic indigo are produced in the world.
然而，在靛蓝的合成过程中会使用了多种有害化学物质。废水排入河流，对环境造成严重破坏。生态意识的觉醒，唤起人们对可再生、无害、天然青黛的关注。用天然青黛染色的Levi牌牛仔裤，重新回到了巴黎T台，成为时代新宠。
However, a variety of hazardous chemicals are used for indigo synthesis. Discharge of dyeing wastewater into river has caused serious environment damage. The awakening of ecological consciousness rearouse people's attention on renewable, innoxious and harmless natural indigo. Levi's jeans dyed with natural indigo went back to Paris T platform.
靛蓝植物，如菘蓝和马蓝，是蓝色染料唯一的天然来源。在中国，这些植物作为染料作物被广泛种植。然而，低靛蓝含量限制了天然靛蓝的市场竞争力。
Indigo plants, such as Isatis tinctoria L. and Baphicacanthus cusia (Nees) Bremek. are the only natural source of blue dye. In China, these plants are widely grown as dye crops. However, low indigo content limits market competitiveness of natural indigo.
如何提高靛蓝染料作物的品质，是一个亟待解决的现实问题。我们在国家自然基金委的资助下，正在以马蓝为研究对象，深入挖掘与靛蓝次生代谢相关的基因，明确调控机制，优化种质和遗传转化，培育优质靛蓝染料作物品种。
How to improve the quality of indigo dye crops, is a practical problem needing to be solved. We plan to mine genes related to secondary metabolism of indigo, clarify the regulatory mechanism, and optimize germplasm and genetic transformation, so as to breed high-quality strains of indigo dye crops.
此外，这些靛蓝染料作物的叶（板蓝叶）、根（板蓝根）和青黛也是重要的中草药，陈竺院士课题组发现青黛对白血病有显著疗效，并阐明了其物质基础及分子机制。因此深入开展靛蓝染料作物的药用开发，是提高马蓝等作物综合利用效率的重要途径。欢迎有兴趣的企业与个人参与马蓝的开发研究，让青黛这一传统医学的蓝宝石再次闪闪发光。
In addition, leaf (Folium Isatidis), root (Radix Isatidis) and indigo by-products (indigo naturalis) of these indigo dye crops, are important traditional Chinese herbal medicines. Significant efficacy of indirubin on leukemia was found by Chinese academician Chen Z. The further development medicinal use of indigo dye crops is an important way to increase the comprehensive efficiency of crop utilization.
