Bent Creek Institute on cutting edge of discovering hidden curative properties of plants

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Yes Weekly has an intriguing story about a North Carolina phamacist named Amy Greeson. She’s formed a group called Healing Seekers, and she travels the world in search of new health cures.

From the story:

The project is dedicated to the discovery of indigenous plants, organisms and esoteric therapies that could one day be synthesized into cures for any number of diseases. Given that most medicines have their origins as organic compounds found in nature, she is convinced that there is a wealth of undiscovered (at least by Western medicine) plants with curative properties in the subtropical rainforests of the world. And she has a wealth of information at her fingertips to back up her claim.

The story goes on to mention that Greeson’s team had discovered two plants that may provide the basis for anti-cancer drugs, and that Asheville’s Bent Creek Institute is testing the plants now. The Bent Creek Institute is devoted to botanical drug development, and falls under the umbrella of the North Carolina Arboretum. It’s had a pretty low profile, but that is changing.

Back to the story:

Even though mainstream medicine has come around to at least recognizing the possibilities of natural remedies, the major pharmaceutical companies have been slow to respond. According to Greeson, “Big Pharma doesn’t want to listen until you’ve got something tangible. We’ve tried to make some contacts with them but they haven’t been too receptive. Our function is more educational, of raising awareness, but getting plants in a lab, while a separate entity, does go hand in hand with what we’re doing.”

Toward that end, Greeson revealed that two of the plants her team brought back from Madagascar have recently shown promise as potential anti-cancer drugs.

“They’ve only been in the lab a few months, but just last month we got the news that two of them have had hits for anti-cancer activity,” she smiled. “They are being tested by Bent Creek Institute in Asheville, which collaborates with Wake Forest. We don’t know how strong the hits are.

“It would be totally unethical for me to see possible cures and not try to do something about bringing them back,” Amy Greeson mused,”‘but I’ve learned that what we do can’t be attached to any outcome. The beauty of it is the could be nothing, it could be a huge breakthrough.”

Thanks to loyal reader Kathi for the heads-up on this story.