Could This Toxin Be Behind the Rise of Early Onset Colon Cancer?
A new study has identified a potential culprit: a toxin called colibactin that's capable of altering DNA. Scientists found that exposure to this gut bacteria in early childhood can lead to mutations within colon cells, which could be what's causing so many young adults to develop colorectal cancer (CRC).
Here's a closer look at this fascinating new research and what it tells us about this potential carcinogen.
The study, which was published last week in Nature, examined tissue samples from nearly 1,000 CRC patients spread across four continents. The team discovered that colibactin leaves behind a specific pattern of DNA mutations, and that patients who developed the disease before the age of 40 were more than three times as likely to exhibit this genetic hallmark than those who were diagnosed after 70.
The researchers were also able to trace when these mutations arose, and the scientists believe that they're most likely acquired by the age of 10. That could put these patients 'decades ahead of schedule for developing colorectal cancer, getting it at age 40 instead of 60,' the study's senior author, Ludmil Alexandrov, says.
Colibactin is a bacterial toxin that's produced by certain strains of Escherichia coli, or E. coli, and other gut bacteria. Previous studies have shown that the toxin has the potential to damage the DNA of cells within the colon.
But this latest research raises the question: If colibactin is triggering CRC-related mutations in childhood, why are more children being exposed to the toxin? Alexandrov tells NBC that 'there are several plausible hypotheses.' One is early antibiotic use, 'which may allow these strains to establish more easily,' he says. Another contributing factor could be the increase in ultraprocessed foods in our diets, the decrease in fiber, and rising rates of C-section births.
'Collectively, these shifts may be tipping the balance towards early-life acquisition of these microbes,' he says.
Alexandrov and his team are in the process of developing stool tests to detect colibactin-related mutations and are investigating whether probiotics could help eliminate harmful strains of bacteria.
The post Could This Toxin Be Behind the Rise of Early Onset Colon Cancer? appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
When is the next full 'buck moon'? What to know about celestial events in July
There are 12 full moons in 2025, and July will bring one that's called the 'Buck Moon.' A full moon occurs — simply put — when the Earth falls between the sun and the moon, which results in the visible portion of the moon being lit by the sun. If you're a regular sky gazer, keeping track of celestial movements, or just curious this month, here is what you need to know about upcoming lunar activity and other planetary sightings in July. The next Buck Moon will arrive on Thursday, July 10, and is expected to be at peak illumination at 4:37 p.m. Eastern time, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. Derived from Indigenous American, European and colonial American influences, moon names signify a connection to the natural world. In July, as part of a yearly renewal process, male deer grow new antlers at peak capacity after having shed the old horns at the end of the rutting season — hence lending the name Buck Moon. Some other names for the July full moon are Thunder Moon, due to the thunderstorms, and Halfway Summer Moon. This moon is also called Berry Moon, Salmon Moon and Feather Moulting Moon. Middletown residents and others in the mid-Hudson Valley can spot the rise of the moon above the horizon at 8:58 p.m. by looking in the southeast direction. The moon will set at 4:50 a.m., southwestward. If you want to see surface details, you will need binoculars or a telescope. You can also use a digital camera. More: NYSEG seeks state approval for steep rate hikes for gas, electric customers Long-range forecast by Climate Prediction Center shows normal or leaning-above-normal temperatures and precipitation levels for July 9-15. If you are interested in locating other planets and constellations in the sky in July, here's what NASA recommends: Jupiter is expected in the second half of the month in the east during the hour before dawn — positioned low in the sky, rising higher each day. Mars is expected to appear all month in the west for a couple of hours, starting at the end of the twilight period — positioned approximately 20 degrees over the horizon line. Mercury makes a brief appearance in the first week of July in the western skies after dusk for up to 45 minutes — positioned 10 degrees above the horizon line or lower. Saturn will be visible all month at midnight — positioned rising high in the southern sky by sunrise. Venus will rise all month in early morning in the east in the hours before dawn. Aquila Constellation, the eagle-shaped cluster of stars, will appear all of July in the east in the first half of the night, anchored by its brightest star, Altair. This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: When to see the Buck Moon and other July events in mid-Hudson Valley
Scientific American
4 hours ago
- Scientific American
4,800-Year-Old Teeth Yield First Human Genome from Ancient Egypt
Teeth from an elderly man who lived around the time that the earliest pyramids were built have yielded the first full human genome sequence from ancient Egypt. The remains are 4,800 to 4,500 years old, overlapping with a period in Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom or the Age of Pyramids. They harbour signs of ancestry similar to that of other ancient North Africans, as well as of people from the Middle East, researchers report today in Nature. 'It's incredibly exciting and important,' says David Reich, a population geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, who was not involved in the study. 'We always hoped we would get our first ancient DNA from mummies.' On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Numerous labs have tried to extract DNA from ancient Egyptian remains. In 1985, evolutionary geneticist Svante Pääbo reported the first ancient DNA sequences from any human: several thousand DNA letters from a 2,400-year-old Egyptian mummy of a child. But Pääbo, who won a Nobel prize in 2022 for other work, later realized that the sequences were contaminated with modern DNA — possibly his own. A 2017 study generated limited genome data from three Egyptian mummies that lived between 3,600 and 2,000 years ago. The hot North African climate speeds up the breakdown of DNA, and the mummification process might also accelerate it, said Pontus Skoglund, a palaeogeneticist at the Francis Crick Institute in London who co-led the Nature study, at a press briefing. 'Mummified individuals are probably not a great way to preserve DNA.' The remains that Skoglund's team sequenced pre-date widespread mummification: the person was interred instead in a ceramic pot, a sign of high, but not elite, status. The remains were found at an archaeological site called Nuwayrat, 265 kilometres south of Cairo along the Nile river. The teeth and bones were discovered in 1902, when Egypt was under British colonial rule. They were donated to institutions in Liverpool, UK, where they have been ever since, even surviving German bombing during the Second World War. Low expectations Skoglund says his expectations were low when his team extracted DNA from several teeth from the Nuwayrat individual. But two samples contained enough authentic ancient DNA to generate a full genome sequence. Y-chromosome sequences indicated that the remains belonged to a male. The majority of his DNA resembled that of early farmers from the Neolithic period of North Africa around 6,000 years ago. The rest most closely matched people in Mesopotamia, a historical Middle Eastern region that was home to the ancient Sumerian civilization, and was where some of the first writing systems emerged. It's not clear whether this implies a genetic direct link between members of Mesopotamian cultures and people in ancient Egypt — also hinted at by similarities in some cultural artefacts — or whether the man's Mesopotamian ancestry arrived through other unsampled populations, the researchers say. The rest of the ancient Egyptian man's bones revealed more details about his life. Evidence of arthritis and osteoporosis suggest he died at an advanced age for the time, possibly in his sixties. Other signs of wear indicate a life of physical toil, sitting hunched over on hard surfaces. On the basis of this and imagery from other tombs from this period, he might have been a potter, said co-author Joel Irish, a bioarchaeologist at Liverpool John Moores University, at the press briefing. 'The publication of a whole-genome data set of an ancient Egyptian constitutes a significant achievement in the field of molecular Egyptology,' says Yehia Gad, a geneticist at Egypt's National Research Centre in Cairo, who praises the researchers for presenting the provenance of the remains clearly. But he points out that the genome is from one individual and might not fully represent ancient Egypt's gene pool, which was probably a melting pot of different ancestries. For this reason, researchers are eager for more ancient Egyptian genome data — perhaps even from a mummy. Advances in ancient-genomics technology and local capacity — Gad supervises an ancient DNA lab at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo — means it hopefully won't take another 40 years.
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Venus Williams reveals she dealt with painful fibroids for decades: ‘I never had enough energy'
Venus Williams, one of the most successful tennis stars and decorated athletes in history, has revealed that she has dealt with a painful medical condition most of her life. Williams, who has four Olympic gold medals and seven Grand Slam titles, opened up about her painful struggle with uterine fibroids, noncancerous growths on the uterus that can cause heavy menstrual bleeding and discomfort. Advertisement 'I remember playing my first French Open, at the time I was 16,' Williams told SELF. 'Before the second round, I was waiting for my match and I was just hugging the toilet bowl. I was losing my lunch over period pains.' Fibroids affect 40 percent to 80 percent of people with a uterus, and Black women are two to three times more likely to get them. Williams revealed to NBC's Zinhle Essamuah that before winning her sixth doubles match with sister Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2016, she was 'just laying on the floor in the locker room. Like, it's gonna pass, it's gonna pass. And thank God Serena got the doctor, and I was able to get up and eat and start playing.' While Venus Williams knew she had fibroids, doctors never connected her debilitating symptoms with the condition and downplayed her concerns. — TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 3, 2025 Williams would also constantly have to pack extra pads, tampons, underwear and clothes due to her heavy periods. 'I never had enough energy to play a real match the way I wanted to,' Williams told Essamuah. Williams says she went undiagnosed for years until a gynaecologist confirmed she had fibroids in 2016, and that the only treatment option recommended to her was a hysterectomy, which she turned down. She took prescription painkillers to manage the pain. 'I had those pills with me everywhere,' Williams said. 'I could never be caught anywhere without my pain pills. Getting caught in that kind of pain is a disaster.' While doing her own research, Williams eventually met Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, who last year performed a myomectomy, a surgical procedure that removes the fibroids while preserving the uterus. The surgery was successful, and Williams said her quality of life has improved. 'As a patient, you have to be your own advocate,' she told SELF. 'If you don't know what's wrong with you in the first place, you never even know to bring it up.' (Photo of Venus Williams at the 2024 Fashion Awards in London in December 2024: Benjamin Cremel / AFP via Getty Images)
