UK: British scientists to develop red wine and berry pills by 2010
The pills made from rice berries and red wine are expected to protect against tumours in the breast, colon and prostate.
The scientists are studying four different pills after examining diets of people who are less likely to develop cancer.
The tablets are made from isolated chemical compounds in Thai sticky rice, bilberries, red wine and spices and should be available by 2010.
The scientists have been given financial backing to develop the pills by Cancer Research UK.
Professor Will Steward, a cancer and molecular medicine expert, said it was the latest step in the fight to find drugs that stop cells becoming malignant - a technique called chemoprevention.
Steward's work at Leicester University is based on evidence that rural populations in Thailand who eat a high proportion of sticky rice are less likely to develop cancer.