It has also been shown to protect lichens against UV-B light, at high altitudes in alpine regions.

6PGD is the third enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway, or PPP, an oxidative process fueling growth in a still-relatively-unknown way.

The parietin, identified from an FDA database of 2,000 known suppressors of 6PGD, killed half the human leukemia cells over two days in the laboratory.

The pigment also slowed the growth of other human cancer cells in mouse models, according to the study.

A more-potent derivative of the parietin called S3 may even cut the growth of lung cancer cells implanted in mice by two-thirds, over the course of 11 days.