NEW SUPPLY OF ESSENTIAL ANTI-VIRAL DRUG INGREDIENT DISCOVERED

MAY HELP EASE SHORTAGE OF POSSIBLE LIFE-SAVING DRUGS

From News-Medical.net :

"The sweetgum tree grows widely throughout the country and is known for its mace-like green fruit, which are sometimes called "gumballs." Now, this spiny fruit may become an important source of a chemical needed to make a lifesaving drug against bird flu - a drug that is currently in short supply worldwide, researchers say.

"Chemists have found that the seeds of the sweetgum fruit contain significant amounts of shikimic acid, the starting material used to produce the main antiviral agent in a much-heralded drug for fighting bird flu..."