Anti-cancer research being conducted at Community College

Peter Marshall



Exciting anti-cancer research is being done here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines at the Community College Division of Arts and Science.{{more}}

Intriguingly, it is the students themselves at the school who are involved in the UNESCO-funded summer programme, coordinated by Dr. Baldwin King, a retired Medicinal Professor from Drew University in New Jersey and Nigel Scott, Deputy Director of the College. Assisting them is Alfred Prescod, a professional horticulturalist, based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The program, the brainchild of King, started on July 18, and will run for a duration of six weeks, to August 26.

During this time, students, guided by the expertise of Prescod, first identified plants and fruits of interest here in St. Vincent. Those identified to be tested were alleged to have medicinal properties by either herbalists, folk remedies or popular consensus. They included, but were not limited to, the Soursop, Nooni, Dragonfruit and the plant popularly called “Seed Under Leaf’”.

After identification, the plants and fruits were collected from the field, cut, blended and then put to soak in ethanol. The filtered product of this process, called the “crude extract” will be taken by Dr. King back to the United States, to be tested on cancer cells, to see if any of them indeed have cancer fighting properties.

SEARCHLIGHT caught up with King, who spoke effusively about the work being done. He sees this summer programme as a first step, as he wishes to continue next year, possibly testing more traditional Vincentian herbal remedies for diabetes combative properties or anti-hypertension agents.

Furthermore, he hopes to establish a Science Research Institute at the College, where these types of testing can be done locally, and more frequently.

The students, all clearly enthused, were full of gratitude for the opportunity given to them, and the wealth of knowledge they received from their co-ordinators.

As a form of documentation and a corollary to the project, Prescod, the horticulturist, hopes to compile a magazine depicting medicinal plants found in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The pictures will all be from those collected by the students involved in the programme.

King, a professor for over 30 years, is a firm believer in research. As such, he hopes that the participants will gain much from this endeavour and that it would “turn them on” to science. Drawing reference to countries like Singapore and Malaysia as examples from which St. Vincent and the Grenadines can learn, King is quick to state that “whether developed like the US or not, the future depends on research and innovation”.