I found this on the Ask Jeeves web site. Hope it helps.
Flaxseed contains a health-boosting, disease-preventing compound called flax lignan, and scientists from the Saskatoon Research Centre (SRC) have developed the technology for extracting and purifying this compound.
Flax lignan is believed to be helpful in the fight against heart disease, cancer, and kidney disease. Saskatoon researchers have teamed up with medical research scientists, and together the group is working to discover potential uses for flax lignan. Already, the team has licensed the technology to an agricultural processing company that will produce and market a flax lignan complex for use in functional foods, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, animal feed additives and veterinary products