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I was once oblivious to the significance of the olive. As a child it was a color - a pastel shade of green - as a student it was that salty, fleshy garnish to an oft consumed frozen pizza. More recently, however, I have come to understand how this humble fruit has oiled the wheels of civilization for millennia. My conversion to an “Oleophile” was abrupt and unexpected – one inspired by the serendipitous meeting of independent passions. The first was a love for the olive tree – something that emerged after visiting the rugged beauty of the North Peloponnes in Greece. Olive trees can be seen as living expressions of the places they inhabit. In the Provence they are pampered, in Tuscany they are tailored, but on the Peloponnes they emanate like ancient mythological creatures, rugged and strong, like the land that nourishes them. This is where the fascination began.

The

a very personal medicineby David B. Jackson, Ph.D.

At about the same time, back in the early days

of Molecular Health, I began to familiarize

myself with the work of Hippocrates, the

father of western medicine. Not only was

Hippocrates the first to truly emphasize the

patient as the most important determinant

of response to therapy – the essence of

personalized medicine – he also provided

a philosophy that is so simple, yet so important

in a modern world so consumed by the

quest for a quick dollar. “Let thy food be thy

medicine and thy medicine be thy food”, he

proclaimed more than 2,500 years ago. As

someone working with the complexity of

cancer, I was struck by the logic and

simplicity of Hippocrates’ tenet. But I also

felt uncomfortable – the sudden realization

of the thrash I had consumed over the course

of my life gave me cause for self-reflection,

if not concern.

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While attending a meeting on molecular

gastronomy in Sicily back in 2005, a scientist

by the name of Dr. Gary Beauchamp, from

the Monell Chemical Senses Center, announced

an amazing observation. Beauchamp had

identified a phenolic compound (decarbox-

ymethyl ligstroside aglycone) that is unique

to olive oil. “I had considerable experience

swallowing and being stung in the throat by

ibuprofen from previous studies on its sensory

properties. So when I tasted newly-pressed

olive oil, I was startled to notice that the

throat sensations were virtually identical.”

Renaming the compound to “oleocanthal”

oleo=olive, canth=sting, al=aldehyde,

Beauchamp later published his findings in

Nature (Beauchamp et al. Nature 437, 45–46

(01 September 2005). The abstract reads as

follows “Newly pressed extra-virgin olive oil

contains oleocanthal — a compound whose

pungency induces a strong stinging sensation

in the throat, not unlike that caused by

solutions of the non-steroidal anti-inflamma-

tory drug ibuprofen. We show here that this

similar perception seems to be an indicator

of a shared pharmacological activity, with

oleocanthal acting as a natural anti-inflamma-

tory compound that has a potency and profile

strikingly similar to that of ibuprofen. Al-

though structurally dissimilar, both these

molecules inhibit the same cyclooxygenase

enzymes in the prostaglandin-biosynthesis

pathway”.

Eureka! Those ancient Greeks knew precisely

what they were doing and I pondered that

their evidence base and therapeutic strategies

were optimized over generations of real world

observation – as opposed to our modern

approach of clinical trials– “evidence I can

believe in”, I thought to myself.

Loggos meets mythos

These experiences are in retrospect the seren-

dipitous ingredients of what ultimately fueled

a passion for all things olive. From the mythos

of the olive tree to the loggos of the scientific

facts, I set myself the goal of producing the

highest quality of oleocanthal-rich extra virgin

olive oil possible (at least for an Irishman).

With no time to waste, I found the perfect

olive grove, directly overlooking the spec-

tacular Gulf of Corinth. While the trees were

majestic they were less than healthy, so my first

task was to nurture them back to vitality - a

kind of win-win agreement between man and

tree. Two years of regular watering combined

with copious quantities of quality sheep shit

were just what the doctor ordered. With the

trees again blossoming, I abruptly stopped the

watering,

Then came my visit to the Sanctuary of

Asclepius, in Epidaurus, Greece. Asclepius,

the god of healing, had many sanctuaries

erected in his honor. The sanctuary at

Epidaurus is arguably the most important due

to the variety of treatments it offered within

its grounds. The first thing that struck me was

the “modernity” of their medical practice –

most of the surgical instruments designed by

these ancient physicians haven’t changed in

form or utility throughout the millennia.

However, other aspects had for the most

part been lost along the path to modern day

medicine. The ancient Greeks, for example,

recognized the importance of both loggos (i.e.

the science) and mythos (i.e. the human spirit).

While today we have mastered the loggos of

medical science, there remains little time for

the human aspect of mythos. Doctors simply

don’t have the time.

But perhaps the most important revelation

was an inscription I read on a temple wall.

It described a treatment for inflammation

and pain – olive oil made from the wild olive

infused with the juice of ground fennel. Olive

oil as a treatment for inflammation and pain?

Fascinating, but a bit too heavy on

the mythos, I thought. That is until I came

across a Nature paper from 2005 that

provided the loggos for this practice.

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David B. Jackson. Ph.D., is Molecular Health’s Chief

Innovation Officer. Since joining the company in 2007,

he has been responsible for many of the key concepts

and inventions that underlie the company’s unique

DATAOMETM technology platform. As a long time

proponent of the need for a more holistic,

evidence-based approach to cancer patient care that

includes the integrated analysis of both patient intrinsic

(e.g. tumor genome, personal genome) and patient

extrinsic (e.g co-medication) molecular factors, his

applied work in this field has led to the discovery of

novel predictive biomarkers. His current innovation

interests include the development of automated strat-

egies for the clinical interpretation of clinico-molecular

data, evidence capture, biomarker discovery, treatment/

trial prioritization and patient safety solutions. His

peer-reviewed research and opinion has been published

in journals such as Science, Nature Cell Biology, Nature

Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences and he is lead inventor of numerous patents

in the field of clinical and molecular informatics.

just in time for summer. It turns out that higher

quantities of oleocanthal are produced when

the olive tree is stressed (e.g. by heat and/or

lack of water). This also means that olives

harvested earlier in the season (i.e. Oct-Nov)

have significantly higher levels of oleocanthal

than those harvested later, when stress has

subsided (i.e. Jan-Feb).

So off I set on Nov.17th, 2017 to fulfill the

dream of gold - liquid gold! Six determined

souls armed with harvesting devices and an

ample supply of Tsipouro (think Greek grappa)

and food, spent some memorable days releas-

ing these oval balls of phyto-pharmaceuticals

from their >100 year old mothers. The crescen-

do came at the end of day one. Fifteen sacks

of freshly harvested olives were raced to the

mill - a place where the aroma of freshly cut

artichoke and grass (the legal kind) permeates

the air. With sacks unloaded and emptied into

the mouth of the mill, we waited excitedly –

passing the time sipping Tsipouro with

some local farmers. Two hours (and several

Tsipouro’s) later, she was born. Our very first

early harvest, extra virgin olive oil. It was

not the simple liquid gold I initially hoped

for, but something much more beautiful.

An almost fluorescent green gold - a mythos

in color! And what of the loggos? Well, I am

proud to report that chemical analysis

revealed the goal was “in the bag” – 0.3%

acidity and >500mg/kg of Oleocanthal – simply

perfect! Beginner’s luck it may be, but one

thing is for sure – this is my kind of

personalized medicine!

“Wine is how we would like life to be, but oil

is how life is: fruity, pungent, with a hint of

complex bitterness - extra virginity’s elusive

triad.” Tom Mueller – Extravirginity, the

sublime and scandalous world of olive oil.

If you are interested in viewing some

videos from the harvest, check this link:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Vyjx-

yXeNwtAte0EDVgzbg