The palm tree has a long history of providing man with useful materials for his daily life. None is more important than the oils obtained from the palm nut. Coconut and palm kernel oils were recognized as health oils in Ayurvedic medicine almost 4000 years ago. The same health effects were also found in Sanskrit medicine for mother's milk. Mention was made that freshly expressed human milk was adopted as an "antibiotic" after eye surgery. Modem research has now found a common link between these two natural health products — their fat or lipid content. For over thirty years our lipid laboratory has pioneered finding relationships between natural and synthetic lipids and their biological activity. Our studies indicated that the fatty acids and monoglycerides found in these two natural products had extraordinary antimicrobial, properties. Over a period of 30 years my colleagues and I screened other lipids hoping too improve on nature. During this period we screened some 300 lipids and other structures for antimicrobial activity. We failed and so I retumed to nature for clues. The medium chain fatty acids and monoglycerides found primarily in these two tropical oils and mothers milk have miraculous healing power. It is rare in the history of medicine to find substances that have such useful properties and still be without toxicity or even harmful side effects. My students and I then vigorously pursued the mdustrial and medical application of the most active species, monolaurin. The highly purified monoglyceride is better known as Lauricidin® rather than simply monolaurin since the usual commercial monolaurin is only 45-55% pure and has no antimicrobial properties. The first utilization of monolaurin was the mcorporation into margarine as a food preservative and then into a sanitizer for the prevention of bovine mastitis. Since that time monolaurin (Lauricidin®) has found use in cosmetic, pharmaceuticals and in clinical medicine. Monolaurin as a dietary supplement has shown extraordinary and exciting results as an antibiotic and as an antiviral agent. The latter property against lipid coated viruses was first demonstrated by Hierholzer and Kabara more than sixteen years ago. Since that time our studies have been confirmed and extended by others. Literature references for the use of monolaurin are now appearing at an increasing rate showing application in dental cares, peptic ulcers, benign prostatic hyperplasia, genital herpes, hepatitis C as well as HIV/AIDS. After years of neglect by others I have finally convinced the medical community and now important clinical studies are finally increasing at a rapid pace. Our prediction at an intemational conference of the American Oil Chemist Society(1995) that these tropical oil derivatives were going to be the new health oils for the next millennium is coming true. Not only does monolaurin have antibiotic and antiviral activity but also these remarkable derivatives have been shown not to cause resistance organisms to appear. In addition, it has now been shown that monolaurin can reduce the resistance of germs to antibiotics. Never before in recent times has recogmtion of the positive health effects of tropical oils been stronger. New and exciting health and industrial uses of monolaurin are available and predictable. Monolaurin derived from coconut and palm kemel oils suggest a bright future for an industry that was once referred to as a "sunset industry". This means that the oil industry must move quickly to modernize itself in making value added products from these oils which will contribute to a more vigorous and healthy agriculture future.