Garlic could provide cancer drug

The chemical which gives garlic its flavour could be used in a "smart bomb" to fight cancer, scientists say.

The finding comes just days after it was revealed the same chemical, allicin, could treat the hospital superbug MRSA.

The cancer treatment harnesses the natural chemical reaction in which allicin is produced.
The journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics details how the reaction can be triggered at tumour sites.

Allicin is a toxic, but unstable, chemical which breaks down quickly and harmlessly when it is eaten.

It is not present in unbroken cloves of garlic, but is produced as a biochemical reaction between two substances stored apart in tiny, adjoining compartments within each clove - the enzyme, alliinase, and a normally inert chemical called alliin.

If the clove is broken, as it is in cooking, the membranes separating the compartments are broken and allicin is produced.

Source BBC News