amygdalin

Over the years, the state Business and Professions Code has been updated to explicitly bar physicians from breaking laws related to human cloning and to the long-discredited cancer treatments laetrile and amygdalin.

The inside of cherry pits and other drupes like peaches and plums do indeed contain a chemical called amygdalin, which when ingested, is converted to cyanide.

According to the National Capital Poison Center, "poisoning can occur when the pit and seed are crushed or chewed before swallowing, releasing the amygdalin. Amygdalin is then converted by the body to cyanide."

Apple seeds contain a chemical compound called amygdalin, which creates the poison cyanide when the seeds are crushed and eaten.

They discovered that one of the proteins, bHLH2, held the key to regulating how and when amygdalin is produced.