Scientists often look to the natural world to find compounds that can be used to improve our health. And for years, undergraduate students at the University of Portland painstakingly ground up flowers — roses, dahlias, columbine, geraniums (to name a few) — and isolated different molecules from them in an effort to find the next big breakthrough.

The students were specifically looking for a compound that would block a harmful substance called hyaluronidase, which can encourage the progression of multiple sclerosis and some cancers.

A couple years back, the students found something promising in the plants: a compound called sulfuretin.

Following that lead, scientists at Oregon Health and Science University started testing sulfuretin on cells in the lab. They found the plant-derived compound was able to successfully inhibit a key form of the problematic hyaluronidase. And they found the most potent form of sulfuretin came from coreopsis flowers and dahlias.

They plan to expand their research beyond isolated cells in the lab to animals, to test for effectiveness and potential side effects.

Find the paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry here.

In these All Science Snapshots, “All Science. No Fiction.” creator Jes Burns features the most interesting, wondrous and hopeful science coming out of the Pacific Northwest.

And remember: Science builds on the science that came before. No one study tells the whole story.