Alcohol permanently damages DNA in stem cells, increases cancer risk: Study
The study also examined
how the body tries to protect itself against damage caused by alcohol
LATEST
NEWS : Alcohol consumption
permanently damages the DNA in stem cells, which in turn increases the risk of
developing cancer, a study led by an Indian-origin scientist warns.
Much previous research looking at the precise ways in which
alcohol causes cancer has been done in cell cultures.
However, in the new study, researchers used mice to show how
alcohol exposure leads to permanent genetic damage.
Scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the
University of Cambridge in the UK gave diluted alcohol, chemically known as
ethanol, to mice.
They then used chromosome analysis and DNA sequencing to
examine the genetic damage caused by acetaldehyde, a harmful chemical produced
when the body processes alcohol.
The researchers found that acetaldehyde can break and damage
DNA within blood stem cells leading to rearranged chromosomes and permanently
alter the DNA sequences within these cells.
"Some cancers
develop due to DNA damage in stem cells," said Professor Ketan Patel from
the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.
"While some damage occurs by chance, our findings
suggest that drinking alcohol can increase the risk of this damage," said
Patel, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
It is important to understand how the DNA blueprint within
stem cells is damaged because when healthy stem cells become faulty, they can
give rise to cancer, researchers said.
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