A PROTEIN found in garlic kills tumour cells while leaving healthy cells
unharmed, scientists in Japan have discovered.
Yuji Karasaki at the University of Occupational and Environmental ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ in
Kitakyushu and colleagues incubated healthy tissue and tumour cells with a
protein called lectin extracted from garlic. “The lectin had a strong
growth-inhibitory effect on human tumour cells,” says Karasaki. The lectin
induced cell death, or “apoptosis”, in the tumour cells (Food Research
International, vol 34, p 7).
