UKM Scientist Finds Algae that Inhibits and Kills Cancer Cells

A Professor at the Bio Chemical Department of the Medical Faculty of The National University of Malaysia (UKM) has found a type of algae having the potential to attack and kill cancer cells. Professor Yasmin Anum Mohd Yusof said Chlorella vulguris (CV), a type of algae was found to have the ability to reduce the proliferation of liver cancer cells and induce apoptosis of the cells. At her  inaugural lecture, she said the keyword is apoptosis which really means cell death.Cancer cells are notorious at breeding at a very rapid rate and developing immunity against any substance that threatens them. They survive by killing healthy cells and making them cancerous.

 However, CV seems to reverse that effect. It causes the cancer cell to die by inducing cancer cells apoptosis and then recycled them into healthy cells. It thus has the potential to reverse cancer cells into healthy cells. The same concept can be seen in chemotherapy but minus the hair loss and other unwanted side effects. The findings of her research on algae done on animals also revealed other side benefits of algae that she said is worth exploring by world scientists.

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