https://www.selleckchem.com/products/jnj-64619178.html Tinospora cordifolia (Giloy) is a medicinal plant used in folk and Ayurvedic medicines throughout India since ancient time. All the parts of the plant are immensely useful due to the presence of different compounds of pharmaceutical importance belonging to various groups as alkaloids, diterpenoid lactones, glycosides, steroids, sesquiterpenoid, and phenolics. These compounds possess pharmacological properties which makes it anti-diabetic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, hepatoprotective, and immuno-modulatory. However, due to the increasing population, there is an inadequate supply of drugs. Therefore, this review focuses on the phytochemistry, ethnopharmacology, clinical application and its conservation strategies so that the plant can be conserved for future generations and utilized as an alternative medicine as well as to design various pharmacologically important drugs. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.BACKGROUND The quality of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), reflected by its bioactive compounds and associated contents, is directly linked to its clinical efficacy. Therefore, it is of great importance to improve the quality of TCM by increasing the bioactive compound content. METHODS Mapping the active component content-associated QTLs in TCM and further marker-assisted breeding have enabled us to rapidly and effectively cultivate new varieties with high bioactive compound contents, which has opened the door for genetic breeding studies on medicinal plants. RESULTS In this paper, a strategy and technical molecular breeding method for TCM are discussed. The development of, four methods of and progress in functional marker development as well as the applications of such markers in TCM are reviewed. CONCLUSION The progress in, challenges of, and future of marker-assisted breeding for quality improvement of TCM are discussed, which p