Why you should save yews, as yews might save you (from cancer), with Dr Ramchandra Poudel (Plants and Our Health #6)

Not Another Science Podcast

Could one of the most important anti-cancer compounds really have come from the bark of infamously poisonous yew trees? And as these yews were already threatened, how did we harvest enough bark to produce the drugs we needed without killing them all off? In this second Plants as Our Medicines episode, we dive into the recent history of yews and Taxol, the anti-cancer drug they provide. We’re joined by Dr Ramchandra Poudel, Senior Scientist at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, who has a background in community-based conservation of medicinal plants. Ram discloses how yews have long had a variety of uses in Nepal, far predating the scientific discovery of Taxol. Even now, Himalayan yews remain at the centre of economic conflict in Nepal, as farmers who have waited years for their slow-growing yews to mature now find stiff competition from competitors producing Taxol in much faster ways.

‘Plants & Our Health’ is a 10-part miniseries made in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and kindly supported with funding from the British Ecological Society.

Not Another Science Podcast is co-created by Helena Cornu and Tom Edwick, brought to you by Edinburgh University Science Magazine (EUSci). Our podcast manager is Alix Bailie. The logo was designed by Apple Chew, and the cover art was designed by Heather Jones.

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Music is Wallpaper by Kevin MacLeod (Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4604-wallpaper; License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)