Cancer Support (Citrus) - Texas A&M Professor, Ed Harris

Home

Products A-K

Products L-Z

News Studies

Customer Service

RSS

View Cart

SEARCH

Twitter

Bookmark & Share

Texas A&M Professor Focuses on Citrus for Cancer Support

U-WIRE (U-WIRE) COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Ed Harris jokes that he has heard every man-made compound has been tested for cancer support.  Harris, a biochemistry and biophysics professor at Texas A&M University said the future of medicine, including a way to help with cancer, is in natural products such as citrus compounds and/or your daily glass of orange juice. "It's up to scientists to see how these things work and pull them out," he said. Harris works with one of these natural products called a limonoid.  A limonoid doesn't come from a lime," he said.  "It's a certain family of compounds with a certain structure.  These are all found in citrus."  These compounds have the ability to impact cancer cells, Harris said. "We weren't the first to discover that," he said.  "But we were the first to explain how they work." Harris said there are two different ways to kill a cell.  A cell dies if it is ruptured or it can be destroyed through a process called apoptosis, Harris said.  "It's like setting off an explosion inside a house and causing it to crumble in on itself," Harris said. Shibu Poulose, a graduate student who conducts research with Harris, said the limonoids were tested on neuroblastoma, colon and breast cancer cells.  "First, we isolated the compounds from the citrus fruits, then we characterized them," he said.  "We used different cancer cell lines, and we used these compounds to see if they would have an effect tumor cells."  Harris said some cancers, such as leukemia, are not affected by the limonoids, and that further research is required to discover the reason why.  Harris said they now know how the liminoids affect cancer cells and that is the important thing.  "You're turning on genes that aren't normally active.  The most promising aspect of limonoids is that they affect cancer cells without damaging normal cells like drugs do, Harris said. "Anytime somebody comes up with a drug, there are side effects," Harris said.  "What research has been trying to do is find a magic bullet that will persuade cancer cells to be submissive and leave the normal cells healthy.  [Liminoids] take the form of drugs but they're not drugs because they are naturally occurring." Harris said they will continue their research to determine why the limonoids do not attack the normal cells.  Elsa Murano, vice chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said this research is an example of the impact agriculture can have on society. "This kind of work showcases, in my opinion, the importance of agriculture -- how agriculture plays such an important role in the disease process," she said. "We are on the cutting edge of research, and it is a great source of pride for Texas A&M." As for Harris, he said to make sure to drink your juice (the real kind).  "We're getting cancer all the time, but we're not allowing it to get to a critical mass," he said. "It could be that when we're drinking our orange juice or grapefruit juice, we're holding it back.

SmartBodyz Nutrition Home Page 1000 West 10th, Suite 218 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 Local Telephone: 817-335-1982 Email: DG[at]SmartBodyz.com (replace [at] with @). Copyright 1996-2012, SmartBodyz Nutrition -- all rights reserved.

You can shop here with safety and confidence.  We have partnered with Authorize.Net, a leading payment gateway since 1996, to offer safe and secure credit card transactions.  We also offer PayPal Checkout and Free phone information service. Dial 1-800-GOOG-411. http://www.google.com/goog411  Order books, etc.

The information and statements made throughout this web site have not been endorsed/evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or any other governmental authority, unless otherwise specifically noted.  We do not offer products or services for the benefits or purpose of diagnosis, prescription for, treatment of, or claims to prevent, mitigate or cure any viral or disease condition or be free from side effects.  Please, seek the advice of a competent medical professional about anything you read on our site. Blog | Links | Testimonials | Privacy