Milking Trees file:///F:/RECENTRE/3%20METAL/KBC/lipoatrophia/Lipoatrophia... Stories 'M ilk ing' Tr e e s for M e dicine s Cre a t e d: 2 5 June 1 9 9 9 By Laura Durnf ord An ant i- cancer dr ug der ived fr om t r ee sap could be ' m ilked' fr om t r ees, if a new D ut ch / Fr ench idea pr oves successful. The concept of ' m ilking' t r ees is st ill only in it s infancy, but t he fir st exper im ent s have been encour aging. The idea is based on a pr ocess called ' elect r ospr ay ing' and w as inspir ed by st r ange nat ur al phenom ena?.. An idea is bor n For about 12 year s Jan Mar ij nissen fr om Delft Technical Univer sit y has been wor king on a pr ocess called elect r ospr aying - t hat is m aking liquids for m a fine spr ay by passing elect r icit y t hr ough t hem . At t he sam e t im e, Dut chm an Rein Roos - who's based at t he Univer sit é de Maine in Le Mans, Fr ance - had been invest igat ing t he ear t h's elect r ical fields and it s effect s on t r ees. He obser ved t hat dur ing a t hunder st or m t he ear t h's elect r ical field becom es ver y st r ong. Tr ees sense t his char ge and r elease t ension by spr aying subst ances int o t he at m ospher e. Toget her t hey cam e t o t he conclusion t hat it m ight be possible t o induce t r ees and ot her plant s t o give up t heir chem ical 'm ilk', by adapt ing t he elect r ospr aying t echnique. Ant i- cancer dr ug Mar ij nissen and Roos decided t o t est t heir idea on a t r ee wit h m edicinal pot ent ial. They had hear d of a dr ug called 't axol', which is used t o t r eat br east and ot her cancer s, and knew t hat it 's ext r act ed fr om t he bar k of a Nor t h Am er ican t r ee called t he Pacific Yew or Taxus br evifolia. But t hey also lear ned t hat t he dr ug is in such dem and t hat t he t r ee could com e under t hr eat of ext inct ion, because it 's dest r oyed in t he ext r act ion pr ocess. Ther e ar e ot her pr oblem s t oo; t he t r ee is ver y slow gr owing so it 's unsuit able for cult ivat ion, and only t iny am ount s of t he dr ug ar e pr oduced - in fact only 1 kilogr am fr om ever y 9,000 kilos of bar k. All t his would not m at t er so m uch if t axol could be ar t ificially synt hesised, but so far phar m aceut ical com panies have been unable t o do t his. Then, as Jan Mar ij nissen explains, he and Rein Roos r ead about a possible alt er nat ive: "I t was found t hat in Eur ope t he Pacific Yew has a cousin called Taxus baccat a which has st uff in it s needles t hat r esem bles t axol. This com pound, which is called 'baccat in I I I ', only needs a sem i- synt hesis t o pr oduce t axol. Then we found out t hat we have one of t hese t r ees gr owing her e at t he Univer sit y of Delft , so we decided t o t r y 'm ilking' it ." The exper im ent The T. baccat a t r ee has soft needles which t end t o gr ow all in a r ow along it s 1 sur 3 20/05/2009 21:17 Milking Trees file:///F:/RECENTRE/3%20METAL/KBC/lipoatrophia/Lipoatrophia... br anches t o about t he sam e lengt h. This m ade it easy for Roos and Mar ij nissen t o conduct t heir t est s: "When I pulled a br anch t he needles for m ed a line so it was easy t o put a glass plat e close by and have all t he needles t he sam e dist ance away. The glass plat e had alum inium foil wr apped t ight ly ar ound it and we passed a high elect r ical volt age t hr ough it . I t was ver y excit ing because we hear d a quiet spr aying noise and t hen we could see t hat on t he alum inium foil ver y sm all whit e dot s wer e visible." So t he r esear cher s had t he im pr ession t hey wer e get t ing som et hing out of t he t r ee, but was it t he baccat in I I I ? The r esult s So far it 's not 100% cer t ain t hat t he whit e gr anules ar e baccat in I I I . But Jan Mar ij nissen says t hat t he fir st indicat ions ar e looking posit ive: "The fir st analysis was done at our own Univer sit y. Our m at er ial is t he r ight colour and like baccat in I I I it doesn't dissolve in wat er , but does im m ediat ely dissolve in alcohol. Also we've found t hat t he m olecular m ass is close t o what we'd expect . Now we'r e wait ing for fur t her t est s t o be car r ied out ." M ilking Alt hough t he exper im ent is st ill only in it s ear liest st ages, it seem s t o fit well wit h t he concept of 'm ilking' t he t r ee. Jan Mar ij nissen says, "When you want m ilk fr om a cow you don't kill t he cow. You look aft er it and m ilk it ever y day. We spr ayed fr om t hese br anches and t hen went back and r epeat ed it again on t he sam e br anches t he next day - and again we got m at er ial. Aft er war ds we checked t he t r ee for weeks and t her e was no dam age. The fir st exper im ent s wer e done about a year ago and t his year t hose br anches have m ade new needles and t hey'r e looking ver y healt hy." St r ange phenom ena: i) CON I CAL W ATER As long ago as 1600 a st r ange phenom enon was r ecor ded in a book called "de Magnet a". The aut hor , William Gilber t , was invest igat ing elect r ical fields and t heir effect s. He dr ipped a dr op of wat er ont o a flat st one. Then he r ubbed a piece of am ber ( which we now know m akes it char ged wit h st at ic elect r icit y) and held it j ust above t he wat er . To his sur pr ise, t he dr oplet gat her ed it self t oget her and r ose up t owar ds t he am ber and for m ed a con e. This phenom enon was only r e- discover ed in t he 1980's, when it becam e t he basis for a special t echnique called 'elect r ospr aying' …. St r ange phenom ena ii) GLOW - I N - TH E- D ARK TREES Dur ing a t hunder st or m t her e is som et im es a m inut e glow of light ar ound t he t ips of pine needles, and aft er war ds t her e's t he fr esh, t angy scent of r esin. Bot h ar e caused by t he elect r ical char ge in t he at m ospher e dur ing t he st or m . The glow com es fr om plasm a - or ionised gas - at t he needle t ip. Jan Mar ij nissen explains: "The light it self is an ionisat ion of t he air . 2 sur 3 20/05/2009 21:17 Milking Trees file:///F:/RECENTRE/3%20METAL/KBC/lipoatrophia/Lipoatrophia... I ons ar e m olecules fr om which a negat ively char ged elect r on has been r em oved and t her e ar e always som e pr esent in t he at m ospher e. When t her e is a st r ong elect r ical field t hese ions get acceler at ed and collide wit h each ot her . This m eans m or e ions ar e cr eat ed and so you get t his ionised ar ea ar ound t he pine needles. When t he ions r et ur n t o being whole m olecules again, t hat 's when you get t his light effect ." While st udying such effect s of t he ear t h's elect r ical fields, Rein Roos not iced t hat t hese t r ees wer e also spr aying subst ances int o t he at m ospher e which pr obably explains t he sm ell of r esin. This spr aying effect wor ks in t he sam e way and under t he sam e pr inciples as t he 'elect r ospr aying' t echnique developed by M ar ij nissen in his lab. Elect r ospr aying I n t he labor at or y t her e is a sm all m et al nozzle held in a clam p and at t ached t o an elect r icit y supply. A sm all pum p supplies t he nozzle wit h liquid which dr ips t hr ough ver y slowly and for m s a dr oplet under neat h. A few cent im et r es below t his set - up an ear t hed m et al plat e is clam ped, suspended as if wait ing t o cat ch t he dr ipping fluid. But , as Jan Mar ij nissen explains, when an elect r ic volt age is applied t o t he syst em , t he dr oplet changes shape: "At a cer t ain volt age t he whole phenom enon st ar t s and t he dr oplet becom es conical in shape, wit h it s t ip point ing down t owar ds t he ear t hed plat e. Then a sm all t hr ead of liquid for m s fr om t he t ip and br eaks up int o a m ist of t iny dr oplet s. By var ying t he volt age we can cont r ol t he size of t he dr oplet s t hat ar e for m ed and t his m eans t hat t her e ar e m any int er est ing and useful t hings we can do wit h t his t echnique." But how does applying t he volt age act ually cause t his spr aying effect ? "By applying volt age you supply t he liquid wit h an elect r ical char ge which m oves quickly t o t he out side of t he dr oplet . Wit h t he st r ong elect r ical field bet ween t he dr oplet and t he ear t hed plat e, t hese char ges ar e pulled t owar ds t he plat e and t his is what m akes t he cone shape. At t he sam e t im e t he char ges acceler at e t owar ds t he point of t he cone and for m t he filam ent . This br eaks int o a m ist because t he char ged dr oplet s all r epel each ot her ." Addit ional infor m at ion: Roos, Rein A.: " The For got t en Pollut ion" Kluwer Academ ic Pr ess, Dor dr echt , 1996 I SBN: 0- 7923- 3917- 7 - about t he ear t h's elect r ical fields and t heir effect s on t r ees. Link s: The Technical Univer sit y Delft Under st anding Taxol Pacific Yew and Taxol Discover y of Taxol Baccat in I I I Der ivat ives Science File Ar chive: Bees Har vest Medicinal Honey © 2000 3 sur 3 Send us an em ail. 20/05/2009 21:17