Angela McCauley, a senior at UIS is researching how plant extracts and herbs like oregano, garlic and coriander may be used to prevent or treat cancer.
“I think it’s important because there’s a lot of treatments for certain diseases out there like aspirin came from a plant extract,” said McCauley.
While plant extracts are used in a wide array of medicines, scientists say there’s still much more research to be done in the area.
“There are about 300,000 plant species and believe it or not out of those 300,000 only about one percent has been tested for medicinal properties,” said Associate Professor Lucia Vazquez, chair of the Department of Biology.
The story was featured by WICS-TV 20 on May 13, 2010.
Watch the report on News Channel 20's website.
