Brazilian research advances seeking cure for cancer
Gazeta Mercantil - 07/22/2008
Almost 3 thousand square meters of forest, 3 thousand identified trees, 2.2 thousand extracts, 132 possible medicines and one hope: to find the cure for cancer. Based on these numbers, gathered from the largest rainforest of the planet, the Amazon, scientists committed to the Rio Negro Project, in progress since 1992, have taken one more step towards the materialization of the dream. Less than one month ago, the group, until then solely sponsored by the São Paulo University (Unip), gained an important ally: the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital entered into the partnership with an investment of US$ 1 million, which will lead, within two months, to the inauguration of a laboratory for purification of substances. "We opened a field of research never seen until then in Brazil", says the excited oncologist and writer Dráuzio Varella, one of the idealizers of the project. "The partnership between Unip and the Hospital is unprecedented in the Country. Besides, we are taking advantage of the largest natural source of the world for pharmaceutical and biochemical products: the Amazon Rainforest". In its 16th year since it was created, the project starts showing especially stimulating results. From the 2.2 thousand extracts researched, 72 indicated some activity against at least one tumor cell. Other 50 have shown reactions to antibiotic resistant bacteria, another of the areas researched by the scientists. The US$ 1 million investment will allow the continuation and increase of the project that consists of the fractionation of extracts. In this stage, each extract is separated into fractions so that it is possible to discover which substance has the active ingredient. Once that is found, it is possible to start tests in animals. So far, the project is guaranteed. Unip and the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital are already preparing their Guinea pigs and Varella believes that within two years these experiences will already be possible. With a socio-philanthropic statute, the doctors and researchers involved in the Rio Negro Project do not aim profit. Should they profit from the results of this research, such profit will be entirely reverted to investments in the Amazon Rainforest and its riparian communities or to the project itself. "Our research is unprecedented in the Country", repeats Varella. "I stopped searching exclusively the cure for cancer a long time ago. In case that happens, I will certainly not be here to see it. The main result of this project is the scientific legacy we will leave to our children and grandchildren. It is Brazil making research, on par with the most developed countries of the world ".