2023-05-16 19:07:00
The striking pink color of the Santa Pola salt flats, and many other salty lagoons, is generated by the pigment which produces a microorganism called bacteriorruberin. Until now, we were unaware of one of its qualities: it is a powerful anti-cancer agent that paralyzes the development of toxic cells.
This is the conclusion reached by the research group of Applied Biochemistry from the University of Alicante (UA). Cells isolated from different types of breast cancer have been analyzed in “in vitro” trials and the effectiveness of the pigment has been verified.
There are still years to go before it can be put to use, but it is a breakthrough in the fight against cancer with natural compounds. What could avoid the side effects of more aggressive treatments such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
In addition, it has an antioxidant activity almost 300 times higher than that of other antioxidants and could be used as a treatment for other diseases such as diabetes.
This pigment is produced by the ‘halophilic archaea’, in order to protect themselves from the sun and they are found both in the salt flats of Santa Pola and in the Torrevieja lagoon and in the salt flats located in the interior of the province of Alicante.
The finding has been published in the prestigious journal Nature Scientific Reports, it began with the development of the doctoral thesis of Micaela Giani, from the UA Applied Biochemistry research group.
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