Tobacco plant could hold the key to fighting cancer

Tobacco plants contain a molecule that fights off fungi and bacteria and destroys cancer, Australian scientists have discovered.

Image: agoxa/Shutterstock

The molecule, NaD1, identifies cancer cells before ripping them open using a pincer-like structure that grips a lipid in the cell membrane. Brutal.

The researchers who led the study from La Trobe Institute of for Molecular Science in Melbourne, Australia, believe the natural defence mechanism could be harnessed to kill cancer in humans.

The irony was not lost on the lead investigator Dr Mark Hulett from La Trobe University, who said in a press release:

"There is some irony in the fact that a powerful defence mechanism against cancer is found in the flower of a species of ornamental tobacco plant, but this is a welcome discovery, whatever the origin."

Results of the research were published in the journal eLife. The next step is to undertake pre-clinical studies to see whether this cancer-seeking molecule could help create a cancer treatment with minimal side effects.

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