Environmental pollution has been blamed for a number of things, such as global warming, changes in weather patterns, and for a number of health problems such as lung problems, skin problems and so on. Cancer is at a very high level defined as the abnormal behavior of the cells of the body, and has a variety of causes such as breakdown or mutation in DNA, hereditary reasons, and so on (as an example, people exposed to a number of carcinogens such as asbestos, high radiation levels, and so on). Environmental pollution was less blamed for this problem, but a recent study shows how pollution levels can affect DNA within a period as low as 3 days (link to article):
Exposure to environmental pollutants even for a short period can prompt genes to undergo reprogramming, and thereby increase an individual’s risk of developing cancer and other diseases, say Italian scientists. "Recently, changes in gene programming due to a chemical transformation called methylation have been found in the blood and tissues of lung cancer patients," said investigator Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, assistant professor of Applied Biotechnology at the University of Milan.
"The changes were detectable after only three days of exposure to particulate matter, indicating that environmental factors need little time to cause gene reprogramming which is potentially associated with disease outcomes," said Baccarelli. "As several of the effects of particulate matter in foundries are similar to those found after exposure to ambient air pollution, our results open new hypotheses about how air pollutants modify human health.
Even though environmental pollution is a reality we all live with, seeing this kind of reaseach increases the impulse to control and restrict such pollution levels. Fortunately, the research does indicate that this impact is reversible.
No comments:
Post a Comment