© Skeptically Speaking
Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) have uncovered for the first time how excess alcohol can cause irreparable damage to our DNA. In a new study published in the journal
Nature today, MRC scientists also discovered a two-tier defence system in our cells that limits the threat of permanent genetic damage.
Scientists at the MRC's Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) have discovered that
an overload of a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde, a by-product from the breakdown of alcohol in our body, can cause damage to DNA. They showed that our cells have two natural ways of protecting us against acetaldehyde. Firstly, this toxin can be removed by specialised enzymes. If this step fails, acetaldehyde builds up and damages DNA, but a second mechanism kicks in to repair the damaged DNA, using another set of enzymes known as the Fanconi proteins.
In pregnant mice which were genetically altered not to have these two defences, the equivalent of a single binge drinking session of alcohol caused catastrophic damage to the fetus. Not only did alcohol damage the fetus, but in the adult modified mice, this alcohol consumption damaged blood stem cells, obliterating the production of blood.
Dr. KJ Patel, lead author of the paper from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, said: "The findings show how critically reliant we are on both these control systems to prevent alcohol from causing irreversible mutations to DNA, both in the fetus and in our own cells.
Comment: The author of this article hardly begins to scratch the surface of what could be called 'scary' in industrialized food today, but coming from such a mainstream source, its a start.