Mention "medicinal plants" and you're likely to conjure up images of folk doctors wielding salves and tinctures, practicing something more akin to witchcraft than science. But surveying cancer treatments alone, it's astounding how many of the compounds we use today were initially discovered in plants. The widely-used drugs vinblastine and vincristine, anti-mitotic compounds used to treat leukemia and other cancers, were isolated from the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) in the 1950s. The breast, ovarian, and lung cancer treatment paclitaxel, another mitosis inhibitor, was found in the bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) in 1967. Etoposide phosphate, an anti-tumor agent that disrupts proper DNA unwinding, was derived from podophyllotoxin which is produced by the mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum). And that's just the start of a long list.
"The world...
© 2010 Esther Klahne, watercolor on paper Image: Courtesy of The NYBG |
© 2010 Dorothy DePaulo, colored pencil on film Image: Courtesy of The NYBG |
© 2009 Asuka Hishiki, watercolor on paper Image: Courtesy of The NYBG |
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