Free Republic

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian scientists have discovered pineapple molecules can act as powerful anti-cancer agents and said the research could lead to a new class of cancer-fighting drugs. Scientists at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) said their work centred on two molecules from bromelaine, an extract derived from crushed pineapple stems that is used to tenderise meat, clarify beers and tan hides. One of the molecules, CCZ, stimulates the body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells, the other, CCS, blocks a protein called Ras, which is defective in 30 percent of all cancers. QIMR researcher Tracey...

In an interview with “KQED Newsroom” Friday, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone talked about sports, gay marriage and the power of Pope Francis, who last week was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Cordileone had a rough landing in famously liberal San Francisco when Pope Benedict XVI named him archbishop last year. As a leading supporter of Prop. 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California until the Supreme Court threw it out, Cordileone’s appointment generated anger and concern in the LGBT community. In 2008, when Cordileone was still a bishop in San Diego, he helped organize efforts to get...