That's the beauty of it. A simple way of making glycitein should be a boon for research into isoflavones, Murphy explained. Isoflavones are found naturally in some plants, most notably soy. Nutritionists believe these compounds reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and age-related cancers of the breast, prostate and colon. But they don't entirely understand how or why.
Researchers currently know a lot about genistein and daidzein because they are easy to obtain.
But glycitein has been something of a mystery and its scarcity has limited the volume of lab work done on it. Murphy says that should change with Lang'at's process. She added that knowing how all three compounds act together will give researchers a much clearer picture of what makes these compounds healthful to consumers. Lang'at gained from the collaboration, as well. She said the program gave her much needed exposure to recent advances in her area of research, and the opportunity to work in established laboratories and conduct collaborative research with U.S. scientists.