| news: "petty spurge" got me: Sap from a weed traditionally used for treating corns and warts contains chemicals that can control cell growth and death. The weed is petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus), also known as milk weed. An extract of petty spurge has been tested against cancer cells taken from eight patients with acute myeloid leukaemia, a particularly aggressive cancer of bone marrow stem cells. In seven of the eight samples it killed between 56 and 95 per cent of the cancer cells. These results were even achieved using low concentrations of up to a hundredth of those that would damage healthy cells. A clinical trial with myeloid leukaemia patients will begin next year in Paris. The sap extract works by activating an enzyme called protein kinase C which triggers controlled cell suicide. Protein kinases are enzymes in cells that can control how quickly the cell grows or dies. In many cancers the basic problem is that cells either grow too quick, die too slowly, or both. With this in mind, when tackling cancer cells scientists are trying to find drugs that can turn these molecules on or off - to trigger suicide. http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk/release.htm?releaseId=2003&page=1&year=2005&month=6&showUndelivered=N Thanks. A reminder once again for those who might be tempted to taste the sap if they come across it gardening. D D O O N N 'T 'T It is utterly, unspeakably vile. I can still taste it now! 30 years later. YYYYEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARCHGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! | 
