Researchers identify a pigment present in the Santa Pola salt flats as an anticarcinogenic agent

The University of Alicante Applied Biochemistry research group⁠—in collaboration with researchers from the Alicante University Hospital Dr. Balmis (HGUDB) and the Alicante Health and Biomedical Research Institute (ISABIAL)⁠—has identified the anti-cancer capacity of a pigment present in the Santa Pola salt flats. This pigment is produced by certain microorganisms, the "halophilic archaea," in order to protect themselves from the sun, and its anti-tumor capacity has been tested in several types of breast cancer.