Tree named in honor of Virginia Tech chemist David G.I. Kingston

... Blacksburg, Va. -- A new yew species that grows in India, China, and Taiwan ... described by Richard Spjut in a major review of yew species published in the Journal of the Botanical ... of the genus. Taxanes are produced by the yew species, and include the important cancer ...

'Green chemistry' could ease manufacture, boost usefulness of cancer drug

... the blockbuster drug Taxol. First isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew in 1967, paclitaxel has since been made by synthetically modifying an intermediate substance isolated from yew needles using toxic solvents or by fermenting cell cultures. Walker's ...

Hospital Build Asia Exhibition and Congress 2009 Sets the Stage for the Future of Healthcare

... Cambodia Medical Association, Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and Hong Kong College of Health Service Executives. Said yew Sung Pei, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore, "Being selected as the host country for Hospital Build Asia attests to Singapore's ...

Screening the herbal pharmacy

... are natural products or were developed on the basis of natural substances. Thus, taxanes used in prostate and breast cancer treatment are made from yew trees. The popular periwinkle plant, which grows along the ground of many front yards, is the source of vinca alkaloids that are effective, for ...

Synthesis of natural molecule could lead to better anti-cancer drugs

... chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. (Taxol also has its origins in nature, having been extracted from the Pacific yew tree.) Synthetic chemists are inspired by such structures. Because of the potential benefits to human health, these are the compounds you want to go ...

Taxol bristle ball: a wrench in the works for cancer

... 19 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, vol. 129, pgs.11653-11661). First isolated from the bark of the yew tree in 1967, paclitaxel is one of the most widely prescribed chemotherapy drugs in use today. The drug is used to treat breast, ovarian and other ...

Hearing Impaired Student Captures International Performance Award

... yew Choong Cheong, a West Virginia University student ... Rhapsody No. 6.” “It’s a joy to see yew Choong do so well,” Professor Amstutz said. “This ... Department of Biology. “The magnitude of yew Choong winning this award is incredible,” said ...

Mining of Ancient Herbal Text Leads to Potential New Anti-Bacterial Drug

... originally from willow bark, and the molecular basis of the anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agent Taxol? was derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. So it’s not so far-fetched to think that the contributions of an ancient text and insights from traditional medicine really may impact modern ...

Ancient Herbal Text Paves the Way to Novel Anti-bacterial Drug

... originally from willow bark, and the molecular basis of the anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agent TaxolTM was derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. So it's not so far-fetched to think that the contributions of an ancient text and insights from traditional medicine really may impact modern ...

Mining of Ancient Herbal Text Leads to Potential New Anti-Bacterial Drug

... originally from willow bark, and the molecular basis of the anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agent Taxol? was derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. So it’s not so far-fetched to think that the contributions of an ancient text and insights from traditional medicine really may impact modern ...

Medicinal Plant Rediscovered After 115 Years

... other exotic flora, although wanton destruction of the forest cover had led to many of the rare species being wiped out. The Texas Bacata, the yew tree, is an example of unregulated exploitation of forest wealth. The bark of this tree is processed to make Taxol, a known treatment of ovarian ...

Christmas trees to yield key Tamiflu ingredient

... chemicals from plants and biomaterials at its plant in St. Catharines, Ontario. Now makes a generic version of the cancer drug paclitaxel from yew trees. “Our research has shown that 2-to-3 per cent of the biomass from various pine, spruce and fir trees is extractible shikimic acid,” Biolyse ...

Eleutherobin From Coral Fights Cancer Cells

... corals. The toxins were found to be 100 times stronger than taxol (drug which is widely used now for cancer treatment, which is derived from Pacific yew tree). It is difficult to get large quantities of Eleutherobin from corals, as it produces only minute quantities. But, scientists are working out to ...