HEALTH ALERT: COFFEE, BEER MAY AFFECT AGING, CANCER

COFFEE, BEER MAY AFFECT AGING, CANCER

Published December 6, 2013 in Food Product Design






Posted in News, International, Science & Research, Coffee, Caffeine, Beer, Alcohol, Beverages, Cancer,Yeast

TEL AVIV, Israel—Coffee and beer, although polar opposites, may be connected to aging and cancer, according to latest research published in PLOS Genetics.

Martin Kupiec, professor at Tel Aviv University's department of molecular biology and biotechnology, and his team, worked with yeast discovering that caffeine shortens and alcohol lengthens telomeres—the end points of chromosomal DNA.

"For the first time we've identified a few environmental factors that alter telomere length, and we've shown how they do it," Kupiec said. "What we learned may one day contribute to the prevention and treatment of human diseases."

Telomeres, made of DNA and proteins, mark the ends of the strands of DNA in the human chromosomes. They are essential to ensuring that the DNA strands are repaired and copied correctly. Every time a cell duplicates, the chromosomes are copied into the new cell with slightly shorter telomeres. Eventually, the telomeres become too short, and the cell dies.

The study was an expansion from a previous 2004 study conducted by Elizabeth Blackburn, who suggested that emotional stress causes the shortening of the telomeres characteristic of aging, presumably by generating free radicals in the cells.

By exposing the yeast cells to 12 environmental stressors, the researchers realized that a low concentration of caffeine, similar to the amount found in a shot of espresso, shortened telomeres, and exposure to a 5% to 7% ethanol solution lengthened telomeres.

To understand these changes researchers scanned 6,000 strains of the yeast, each with a different gene deactivated. They conducted genetic tests on the strains with the longest and shortest telomeres, revealing that two genes, Rap1 and Rif1, are the main players mediating environmental stressors and telomere length. In total, some 400 genes interact to maintain telomere length underscoring the importance of this gene network in maintaining the stability of the genome.

"This is the first time anyone has analyzed a complex system in which all of the genes affecting it are known," Kupiec said. "It turns out that telomere length is something that's very exact, which suggests that precision is critical and should be protected from environmental effects."

More research is needed to prove a causal relationship, not a mere correlation, between telomere length and aging or cancer.

Sources:

• American Friends Tel Aviv University: Coffee or Beer? The Choice Could Affect Your Genome

Check out my new e-book entitled: "Social Media Marketing in Agri-Foods: Endless Profit and Painless Gain"

The book is available on Amazon and Kindle for $4.99 USD. Visit amazon/Kindle to order now:
http://www.amazon.ca/Social-Media-Marketing-Agri-Foods-ebook/dp/B00C42OB3E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364756966&sr=1-1

Thanks for taking the time