When USDA botanist Arthur Barclay collected a sample of bark from the Pacific yew tree in Washington State in 1962, he had no way of knowing that the sample would yield one of the most important ...

The big challenge is understanding the full biosynthetic pathway – how enzymes in the tree gradually convert raw molecules ...

ILLAHEE, Wash. – The reign of a contender for the title of oldest Pacific yew tree in the United States has come to an end. The yew's gnarled, bubbly bark and green limbs – celebrated for ...

The demand for the widely used cancer drug Taxol is increasing, but it's difficult and expensive to produce because it hasn't ...

Call it a hunch, luck or fate—it matters little today, four decades after Dr. Barclay stood on a hillside in the shadow of Washington’s Mount St. Helens and collected his first samples of Pacific yew ...

In 1971, researchers seeking plants that may possess anti-cancer properties discovered a chemical compound in the bark of relative of T. canadensis called pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia). This chemical ...

Some conservation groups were angered when the government granted Bristol Myers-Squibb an exclusive contract to process 750,000 pounds of Pacific yew bark from national parks this year.

The National Cancer Institute screened 35,000 plants. One particular sample Barclay collected, the bark of the Pacific Yew tree, went on to provide what is now one of the most highly prescribed ...

ILLAHEE — The reign of a contender for the title of oldest Pacific Yew tree in the United States came to an end this winter at Illahee State Park. The yew's gnarled, bubbly bark and green ...

Taxol, the anti-cancer drug, is produced naturally in the bark of Pacific Yew trees, which take 80 years to grow. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news ...

brevifolia when it appeared that bark from the tree would be needed in large amounts.) The goal of the environmentalists was not to ensure that there would continue to be sufficient Pacific yew to ...