Biotechnology breakthroughs usually sound a little more high-tech than collecting weeds that sprout on roadsides, railways and wasteland. But plant biologist Alessandra Devoto’s research may be a major breakthrough in improving treatment of breast cancer after a team of scientists she led published research showing that Arabidopsis thaliana, a common weed, has remarkable medical properties.

The plant, more commonly known as thale cress or mouse-ear cress, has been shown to prevent the growth of breast cancer cells, without affecting the development of healthy cells around them. The strange, skinny, 20cm-high cousin of the cabbage family tree which grows freely in Euro-Asia and Africa, has until now gone largely unnoticed by science. Its simple molecular structure was believed to preclude potential medical value. But it is now hoped that it might be an effective tool in reducing both the recovery time and secondary effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Enthusiastically hailing the hidden properties of the week, Professor Devoto, who works at Royal Holloway, University of London commented:

“The plant is very much like the Cinderella of the medicinal plant world — no one thought it was so special, but it has shown its true colours. Everyone knows someone who has gone through chemotherapy and the severe side-effects it causes. This skinny little weed is a bit of a superhero, it stops the cancer cells but causes no other damage.”

Arabidopsis thaliana’s cancer-killing properties are, discovered the combined team from the University of Exeter and Brunel University London led by Royal Holloway’s Professor Devoto, activated by its leaves being treated by a natural hormone found in Jasmine. The hormone boosts a plant’s response to stressful conditions.

When the treated cress thale leaves were then incubated with breast cancer cells, the team observed that they stopped growing. Healthy cells alongside them, however, did not. Perhaps even more importantly, molecular mechanisms discovered in the breast cancer cells affected by the presence of the hormone-treated weed leaves, could lead to further new treatments of breast, and potentially other, cancers.

The team’s findings are today published in New Phytologist, a peer-reviewed academic journal.

For Professor Devoto, the discovery is the culmination of a long and often lonely interest in the plant that stretches back to the 1990s. She reflects:

“People started looking at me funny when I told them I was investigating the medicinal properties of the plant in 2006. People were sceptical. It has taken me 14 years of perseverance and persistence to achieve these results. I am incredibly proud of our team.”

The research into thale cress is still early stage, but the team working on it is now pursuing greater understanding of exactly which chemicals found in the weed are those actively stopping the growth of cancerous cells. For Professor Devoto, the research is something of a crusade, with the academic feeling strongly about the discovery of new, less toxic and more effective treatments of breast cancer. The disease affects one in seven women in the UK.

The teams work has been supported by Amanda Harvey, deputy dean of Brunel University and an expert in breast cancer biology. She commented on Professor Devoto’s perseverance, despite being faced by scepticism:

“People looked at me like, ‘Why this plant?’, but she believed in it. I am truly excited to have discovered the amazing impact this unassuming plant has on breast cancer cells. It just proves that even plants with a non-medicinal pedigree can work for cancer treatment.”

Dr Harvey and Nicholas Smirnoff, professor of plant biochemistry at the University of Exeter, are confident that the team’s discovery will eventually combine with other recent breakthroughs in biotechnology and metabolic engineering to analyse the bioactive properties of plants on “industrial scales”. The hope is that there are many other unassuming botanicals that could hold remarkable secrets. The pair enthused:

“We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Professor Devoto to identify the plant-derived chemicals that interfere with breast cancer cells as well as with other diseases and to progress this research by gathering more funding to benefit society more widely.”