It is well known that cigarette smoke can cause lung cancer. However, according to a report from the ETH, scientists can now use a new method to map precisely which DNA building blocks are changed at the start of cell mutation.
One big advantage of these toxicological tests is that they can be performed simply in a petri dish with molecular biology analyses instead of through animal trials as they were in the past. The study by the team led by toxicology professor Shana Sturla has now been published in the specialist journal “ACS Central Science”.
According to the information provided, the team focused on one of the chemical compounds created from burning tobacco: benzopyrene. This is converted into toxic metabolites within the human body that have a carcinogenic effect. For the tests, these degradation products were added to lung cells in a petri dish. Various methods were used by the researchers to determine which guanine DNA building blocks showed mutations.
They now plan to adapt their approach so that other DNA changes could be mapped in future. This would enable the risk of causing cancer to be predicted for numerous chemical compounds. According to the ETH, it could also be used to analyze the cell types and individual genetic predispositions that are susceptible to DNA changes and thus particularly receptive to carcinogenic degeneration. Moreover, Sturla also hopes to examine the DNA changes brought about by environmental influences, nutrition, or normal cell aging. mm
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