Biology 11th Edition by Cecie Starr ,Ralph Taggart

Exercise 11

Pacific yews ( Taxus brevifolius ) are among the slowest growing trees, which makes them vulnerable to extinction. People started stripping their bark and killing them when they heard that taxol , a chemical extracted from the bark, may work against breast and ovarian cancer. It takes bark from about six trees to treat one patient. Do some research and find out why taxol has potential as an anticancer drug and what has been done to protect the trees.