Some butterflies have properties which help detect breast cancer early. Aquatic invertebrates such as octocorals, in turn, can influence cancer’s development.
Students in San Diego examined the DNA of various species with the help of automated equipment, successfully decoding a common set of five key genes.
Thanks to these genes, corals are able to produce so-called diterpenoids – substances, which, like chillis, have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
The discovery paves the way for the synthetic manufacture of diterpenoids to establish their suitability for use in future medication. So far this has proved tricky: octocorals are not only ancient, rare and worthy of protection, but also grow very slowly.
Interestingly enough, a special gel is stimulating the growth of hard corals.
