By 1969, 28 kg (62 lb) of crude extract had been isolated from almost 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) of bark, although this ultimately yielded only 10 g (0.35 oz) of pure material, but for several years, no use was made of the compound by the NCI. In 1975, it was shown to be active in another in vitro system; two years later, a new department head reviewed the data and finally recommended taxol be moved on to the next stage in the discovery process. This required increasing quantities of purified taxol, up to 600 g (21 oz), and in 1977 a further request for 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) of bark was made. In 1978, two NCI researchers published a report showing taxol was mildly effective in leukaemic mice. In November 1978, taxol was shown to be effective in xenograft studies. Meanwhile, taxol began to be well known in the cell biology, as well as the cancer community, with a publication in early 1979 by Susan B. Horwitz, a molecular pharmacologist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine,  showing taxol had a previously unknown mechanism of action involving the stabilization of microtubules. Together with formulation problems, this increased interest from researchers meant that, by 1980, the NCI envisaged needing to collect 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) of bark. Animal toxicology studies were complete by June 1982, and in November NCI applied for the IND necessary to begin clinical trials in humans.
Uridine 5-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, UGT) is a microsomal glycosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.17) that catalyzes the transfer of the glucuronic acid component of UDP-glucuronic acid to a small hydrophobic molecule. This is a glucuronidation reaction.Alternative names:

glucuronyltransferase
UDP-glucuronyl transferase
UDP-GT

Function
Glucuronosyltransferases are responsible for the process of glucuronidation, a major part of phase II metabolism. Arguably the most important of the Phase II (conjugative) enzymes, UGTs have been the subject of increasing scientific inquiry since the mid-to-late 1990s. The reaction catalyzed by the UGT enzyme involves the addition of a glucuronic acid moiety to xenobiotics and is the most important pathway for the human bodys elimination of the most frequently prescribed drugs. It is also the major pathway for foreign chemical (dietary, environmental, pharmaceutical) removal  for most drugs, dietary substances, toxins and endogenous substances. UGT is present in humans, other animals, plants, and bacteria. Famously, UGT enzymes are not present in the genus Felis, and this accounts for a number of unusual toxicities in the cat family. The glucuronidation reaction consists of the transfer of the glucuronosyl group from uridine 5-diphospho-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) to substrate molecules that contain oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur or carboxyl functional groups. The resulting glucuronide is more polar (e.g. hydrophilic) and more easily excreted than the substrate molecule. The product solubility in blood is increased allowing it to be eliminated from the body by the kidneys. Diseases
A deficiency in the bilirubin specific form of glucuronosyltransferase is thought to be the cause of Gilberts syndrome, which is characterized by unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia.