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Researchers have synthesised marine-pigment-loaded biocompatible nanogels that can kill human colon cancer cells, making them potentially useful for a novel therapy for colon cancer1. Colon

cancer is a deadly disease that affects both men and women. Consuming a diet rich in animal fat increases the risks of colon cancer. Existing chemotherapies are effective, but they kill

normal, healthy cells along with cancer cells. In search of a safe therapy, scientists from the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute in Karnataka, India, and Kyoto University

in Kyoto, Japan, prepared the nanogels using chitosan, a polymer isolated from the hard outer shell of crab, glycolipid derived from wheat germ oil and carotenoid fucoxanthin, a pigment from

brown seaweed. When the pigment-loaded nanogels were cultured with human colon cancer cells, the cells began to die. Analysis of the cell death process revealed that the nanogels increased

a specific protein and enzymes that caused the cancer cells’ death through apoptosis, a process in which the cancer cells die in a controlled way. DNA fragmentation, a sign of apoptosis, was

clearly observed in the nanogel-treated cancer cells. Besides, nanogel treatment also suppressed the secretion of a protein that helps the cancer cells proliferate. Since natural

nutraceuticals are widely preferred for their efficiency in lowering cancer complications, fucoxanthin being a potentially beneficial nutraceutical carotenoid could be a promising

anti-cancer agent.