A common weed, a plant, was previously said to be not useful for any medical purpose, however, the reports were completely wrong.

Researchers from London recently discovered that common weed is capable of stopping the growth of breast cancer cells.

That’s good news!

Arabidopsis thaliana – also known as thale cress, is reportedly capable of stopping the growth of cancer cells in the breast.

This research could be used to create chemotherapy cancer treatments!

The leaves were treated with the plant hormone jasmonate, a substance that is found in jasmine. It boosts responsiveness to stress.

The researchers then incubated the leaves with breast cancer cells.

The results were really good.

Researchers found that cancer cells stopped growing and the normal cells that are found in the human body were not affected.

This is good news because chemotherapy is capable of killing cancer cells along with destroying healthy cells that allow the human body to work properly.

With this new study, researchers could come up with a targeted treatment that could lead to a quicker recovery time and fewer side effects for patients that are undergoing such treatment.

Professor Alessandra Devoto, from the Department of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway University, said he has been carrying out this research since 2006.

They published a paper on the findings in the New Phytologist paper.

Dr. Amanda Harvey, from Brunel University London, and Prof Nicholas Smirnoff at the University of Exeter, are also involved in the study.

Professor Devoto released a statement about their findings during a Brunel University Press release.

The statement reads:

I am truly excited to have discovered the amazing impact this unassuming plant has on breast cancer cells. It just proves that even plants with a non-medicinal pedigree can work for cancer treatment. The plant is very much like the ‘Cinderella’ of the medicinal plant world – no one thought it was so special, but it has shown its true colors via our research. The discovery has important implications in developing treatments for cancer as well as other diseases.

Dr. Harvey and Professor Smirnoff also released a statement during the same press release.

They said:

Combined with recent progress in metabolic engineering and biotechnology, our approach will also facilitate production and analysis of bioactivities of valuable metabolites from plants on an industrial scale. We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Prof Devoto to identify the plant-derived chemicals that interfere with breast cancer cells as well as with other diseases and to progress this research by gathering more funding to benefit society more widely.

Let’s just hope for more good news to come in the near future!

What are your thoughts about this study? Let us know what you think about it by leaving a comment in the comments section below!