Creating Plant-Based Compounds to Prevent Infections

At National Jewish Health, immunology researcher Brian Day, is investigating plant antioxidants. The Day Lab detoxified plant-based cyanide and converted it to a molecule that the body uses to prevent and fight infections.

Transcript

My laboratory got interested in studying an antioxidant that actually comes from your diet, from eating plants.

Plants actually produce a molecule, cyanide, to prevent insects from eating them.

We actually then can take that cyanide, detoxify it and convert it into a molecule called thiocyanate.

Thiocyanate is an interesting molecule as it can act as an antioxidant, but also can be used by our body’s immune system to actually prevent and fight infections from bacteria and viruses.