Lavender under lights Farmers could be growing more high value crops for pharmaceuticals in the UK if promising research into treating an aggressive form of lymphoma proves successful. The project, which is based at the University of Plymouth’s £17m Derriford Research Facility, has discovered that specific essential oils inhibit cancer cell growth in Mantle Cell lymphoma – a so far untreatable form of this aggressive disease. “Mantle Cell lymphoma has a survival rate of just three to five years,” explains project leader Dr Lynn McCallum, associate professor of haematology at Plymouth University. “No new biomedical compounds are helping to prolong patient survival, but plants have a better prevalence of producing the correct structure of bioactive compounds, and we’ve found some essential oils that have a growth inhibitory effect.”
UK researchers explore new medical niche for crops
14 December 2020 |
by FarmingUK Team | Arable, News
The aim of the research is to manipulate the levels of essential oils in crops such as lavender
Farmers could be growing more high value crops for pharmaceuticals if research into treating an aggressive form of lymphoma proves successful.
Researchers have recently discovered that specific essential oils inhibit cancer cell growth in Mantle Cell lymphoma, which has a survival rate of just three to five years.
No new biomedical compounds are helping to prolong patient survival, but plants have a better prevalence of producing the correct structure of bioactive compounds.