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Plant Stem Cells Point to Cheaper Cancer Drug

Pacific yew tree (NCI)

Pacific yew tree (National Cancer Institute)

A research team from University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Unwha Biotech, a company in Jeonju Si, Korea, has found a way of using stem cells from tree bark that could lead to a simpler and lower-cost process for making the cancer drug paclitaxel. The drug is used to treat lung, ovarian, breast, head, and neck cancer.

The team of scientists and engineers cultured or grew stem cells from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, a natural source of paclitaxel. But current methods of extracting the active compound for the drug from the bark requires mature trees, which is both expensive and environmentally unsustainable.

The researchers found a different process for creating the active compound in paclitaxel. They used a combination of deep sequencing technologies to identify marker genes and transcriptional programs consistent with stem cells. They then were able to isolate and grow the stem cells to produce the active compound in paclitaxel.

The researchers say the process is self-renewing and less expensive than traditional extraction methods, and can be scaled up for commercial quantities. They say the process can also be applied to other drugs that can be derived from cultured stem cells.

The team published its findings in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required).

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