Stinking tree treats cancer
a tree found in India is the world's richest source of camptothecin (cpt), a drug used to treat cancers of the ovaries and the colon. In an effort to ensure sustainable availability of cpt, researchers from Bangalore have carried out a survey of Nothapodytes nimmoniana trees in the Western Ghats. They found that some individual trees had cpt content almost twice of what had been reported earlier.
The researchers were drawn from the University of Agricultural Sciences, gkvk Campus, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, College of Forestry, Sirsi and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Jakkur.
As part of the survey, samples of stem wood, bark, root and mature leaves were collected from three sites