NATION IN BRIEF : ILLINOIS : Paw Paw Tree Yields Anti-Cancer Drug

A simple screening test has led to the isolation of a powerful anti-cancer drug and a safe, natural pesticide from the paw paw tree, sometimes called the “Indiana banana,” a researcher said. The drug, which has so far been tested only in animals, is a million times as potent as the widely used cancer drug Adriamycin, said Jerry L. McLaughlin of Purdue University. The National Cancer Institute has expressed interest in the drug and has begun its own tests, McLaughlin said at the annual meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.