What is another name for Taxol?

Paclitaxel is used to treat various types of cancer. It is a cancer chemotherapy drug that works by slowing or stopping cancer cell growth. Paclitaxel is available under the following different brand names: Taxol.

What plant produces Taxol?

Taxol® (NSC 125973) Paclitaxel, the most well-known natural-source cancer drug in the United States, is derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) and is used in the treatment of breast, lung, and ovarian cancer, as well as Kaposi’s sarcoma.

Is Taxol still made from trees?

Taxol, an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug, is produced naturally in the bark of Pacific Yew trees (photo-Western Yew bark – Newhalem River trail- by brewbrooks-www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/263660629). Scientists are one step closer to understanding how the cancer-fighting drug Taxol is produced by trees.

What is a Taxol in chemistry?

taxol, organic compound with a complex multi-ring molecule that occurs in the bark of Pacific yew trees (Taxus brevifolia). It is active against certain cancers of the lung, ovary, breast, head, and neck, disrupting cell division and interfering with separation of the nuclear chromosomes.

Where is Taxol made?

Ecologically, the problem with Taxol is that it is produced from a resource that is rapidly being depleted. It is extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, a slow growing tree native of the pacific north west.

How is Taxol extracted from yew tree?

At present Taxol is obtained mainly from the bark of the Yew tree but scientists have found that the substance can be extracted from the needles of tree. However, the drug is only one-eighth as concentrated compared to the bark and this process leaves room for impurities within it.

Why do plants make Taxol?

Taxol is produced by Yew trees as a plant immunity compound and deployed against a wide range of wood-degrading fungi, which would otherwise be able to colonise bark tissue [5].

What is the structure of Taxol?

C47H51NO14Paclitaxel / Formula

What elements are in Taxol?

Taxol’s molecular structure is based on the A, B, and C rings that harbor two hydroxyl groups, two acetyl groups, one benzoyl group and an oxetane ring. … The main step forward was achieved by combining the use of 10-deacetylbaccatin III and a semisynthetic process for production of the drug.

Who discovered Taxol?

Monroe Wall, Mansukh Wani and colleagues at the Natural Products Laboratory of the Research Triangle Institute discovered and elucidated the structure Taxol® and camptothecin, two life-saving compounds for the treatment of cancer.

What is the yew tree used for?

Yew is an evergreen tree. People use the bark, branch tips, and needles to make medicine. Paclitaxel (Taxol), a prescription drug for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer, originally came from the bark of the yew tree. But now paclitaxel is made in a lab.