How attached have we become to the pharmaceutical industry? If a negative reaction is triggered while combining certain medications and real foods, do scientists move to alter and fix the medication? Rather than altering the medication in question, scientists are actually removing naturally occurring compounds found in various fruit instead. This is the case with compounds known as furanocoumarins, found in fruit like grapefruits, celery, and lemons.
In an attempt to force nature to coexist with pharmaceutical drugs, researchers from the University of Florida have moved to create a new grapefruit low in compounds that negatively interact with certain medications. For the new creation, researchers had to cross genes between a grapefruit and a pomelo, which are naturally low in furanocoumarins. The resulting fruit is also low in furanocoumarins, allowing patients taking these medications to do so without a negative interaction sparked by consuming the fruit.
