Old drug, new tricks
Metformin, cheap and widely used for diabetes, takes a swipe at cancer
A NEW TRICK Known as goat’s rue, holy hay, French lilac and Italian fitch, Galega officinalis was an ancient herbal remedy. Now its derivative, the diabetes drug metformin, may find new uses treating cancer and other diseases.
© Biodiversity Heritage Library, adapted by M. Atarod
Like an aging actor rediscovered after being typecast for years, the long-standing diabetes drug metformin is poised to reinvent itself.