Green tea has been consumed in China for 4,000 years—and one of its compounds may hold the key to staving off cancer, according to compelling new research.

It switches on a gene called p53, which is proven to block the development of tumors.

Known as the “Guardian of the Genome” for its ability to repair DNA damage and destroy cancerous cells, p53 is classified as a tumor suppressor—and if a person inherits only one functional copy of the p53 gene from their parents, they are predisposed to the disease.

A new study published this month in Nature Communications shows that an antioxidant found in the traditional Chinese drink may increase levels of p53 and improve its efficiency, say scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Studying the direct interaction between p53 and the green tea compound, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), offers hope that a new drug might be created to mimic it.

“Mutations in p53 are found in over 50% of human cancer,” said the paper’s author Professor Chunyu Wang, who called it “arguably the most important protein […]