Of cyclops and lilies: New strategy for the synthesis of cylcopamine, a potential cancer treatment
Friday, August 7, 2009 - 07:14
in Health & Medicine
(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1957, shepherds in Idaho (USA) discovered that when pregnant sheep ate lilies of the species Veratrum californicum (corn lily, California false hellebore), their lambs were born with only one eye in the center of their foreheads, like a cyclops. The trigger for this was found to be the alkaloid cyclopamine. Cyclopamine has proven to be an effective candidate for cancer therapy in adult humans and is now undergoing clinical trials.