'Magical' royal bee jelly offers promise to combat cancer: Study
New York, July 23 : Royal jelly -- a natural bee product -- long known for its mysterious growth effects on future queen honey bees, while hailed by some as an anti-ageing, cholesterol-lowering super supplement, might also help fight cancer, finds new research.
Royal jelly also called "bee milk", looks like white snot. Besides water, it also contains a combination of proteins and sugars.
The findings showed this "queen magic" affects cell signalling and growth in cancer cells.
However, how this actually happens and its potential benefit to humans, has remained a mystery to scientists.
"The exact structure of the key protein in royal jelly remains unknown. But it is expected to act through the epidermal growth factor (or EGF) receptor -- the main pathway targeted by cancer therapeutics today," Daryl Klein, Assistant Professor at Yale University in Connecticut, US, said in a statement.
Klein's lab studies cell signalling, and how these signals can be "tuned" in different ways.
Using commercial jelly shipped from China, initial studies from Klein's lab have started to resolve the oligomer structure of MRJP-1 (major royal jelly protein).
However, the scientists found that resolution stalled around 11 Angstroms -- not enough to reveal the potential secrets hidden in the jelly.
They fear that the commercially available product may have been the limiting factor.
"We've bought commercial royal jelly, but it goes through a lot of handling -- freezing, thawing and re-freezing -- before it gets to us, which could affect the ultimate resolution we can see in this protein and how we can do functional tests on it," added Tongqing Li, post-doctoral associate at the varsity.
Researchers are now hoping to extract royal jelly from the university's campus to find out "how it modifies cell growth across different species, and how it might modify cancer cell signalling," Klein said.
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It’s a lie that he said ‘well bowled’ to me: Siraj counters Head's comments
Adelaide, Dec 8: Facing severe criticism for his verbal send-off, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj has refuted Travis Head's claim of saying "well bowled" during the Pink-ball Test alleging him of gross misrepresentation of what transpired after the southpaw's dismissal.
Siraj's fiery celebration after dismissing Head, who scored a counterattacking 140, sparked heated exchanges, adding drama to the second day of the Pink-ball Test here on Saturday.
Expressing disappointment at Siraj's conduct, Head claimed that he said "well bowled" after being castled by a low toss, a statement the Indian dismissed as a lie.
“It was a good battle. I loved bowling to him. He has batted really well for his 140,” Siraj told Harbhajan Singh during an interaction on Star Sports.
“When you get hit for a six on your good ball, it kind of gets annoying. It ignites your passion. When I got him out, I celebrated but he abused me,” said Siraj.
“It’s a lie that he said ‘well bowled’ to me."
The incident unfolded after Siraj, having dropped the local hero on 76 earlier in the day, conceded a six to him. The Hyderabadi responded immediately, castling Head with a low full toss and celebrating animatedly, while instructing him to walk back.
Head reacted with a few verbal volleys of his own before leaving for the dressing room. Siraj was subsequently booed by the record 50,000-plus Adelaide crowd. The pacer was later seen discussing the crowd's reaction with the umpires.
"You can see what he actually said on TV. Initially, I only celebrated but he was the one who started the conversation. In the press conference, he lied that he said ‘well bowled.’ You can go and check the highlights again," Siraj said.
"We don’t disrespect anyone. I respect every cricketer. Cricket is a gentleman’s game but the way acted after getting out was uncalled for.”
Head's brilliant innings of 141-ball 140 was the backbone of Australia's total of 337 in 87.3 overs, even as wickets fell around him. He played a pivotal role in helping Australia secure a commanding 157-run first-innings lead.
"Well, I said 'well bowled', but he thought otherwise when he pointed me to the sheds. Yeah, I was slightly disappointed with the way that transpired with a couple of the past innings," Head told 'Fox Cricket' on Saturday.
"But, yeah, it is what it is if they want to react like that. And that's how they want to represent themselves and so be it."
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan, who was involved in the infamous Monkey-gate scandal in Australia in 2008, backed Siraj.
"You did right. He (Travis Head) never said ‘well bowled.’ Australians don’t say this to anyone. I have had my fair shares of battles with them in the past. You should be proud of yourself. You were excellent,” said Harbhajan.
