Gut bacteria might flip the effects of a common cancer-causing mutation in an unexpected way
Microbes in the gut can change the effects of genetic mutations (LJNovaScotia/Pixabay/)Health blogs and diet websites often tout antioxidants as a cure-all for gut health. But the story of the gut microbiome and its role in disease is murkier than most news stories might lead you to believe. Originally in search of an explanation as to why cancer is so much less likely to develop in the small intestine than in the large intestine, researchers in Israel looked at how mouse microbiomes interact with mutations in the tumor suppressing protein, p53. Ordinarily, p53 is a cell’s best defense against cancer. Genetically mutated versions of the protein tend to be just as strong, but they generally promote cancer growth rather than suppress it. Yet when scientists looked at cancer growth in mice with mutated p53, they found that gut bacteria substantially changed the effects of the mutation.The study, published recently in...