Alcohol increases the risk of skin cancer by up to 11% by causing irreparable DNA damage

Researchers from Brown University analyzed 13 studies that compared alcohol intake with a total of 95,241 non-melanoma skin cancer cases. Just one glass of wine a day increases your risk of developing certain forms of skin cancer by up to eleven percent. 

Results reveal that for every 10 gram increase in alcohol intake per day, a person's risk of Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) increases by seven percent and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC)  increases by 11 percent.  BCC and cSCC are abnormal, uncontrolled growths that arise in the outer layers of the skin, but in different cell types. It has been suggested that the ethanol can metabolize into acetaldehyde, a chemical compound that damages DNA and prevents its repair. Past research has shown white wine has higher levels of acetaldehyde than beer or spirits. 

Customized Wine That'll Match Your Taste Receptor?

 

 

 

 

Vinome, a wine company based out of Northern California,  is pitching a selling point that their wine can be customized and made to fit the customer’s DNA. Although it may seem convincing that the wine company is capable of making one of a kind wines for customers that send in saliva swaps that can be compared to 10 different genetic variants. However, geneticist such as Dr. Jim Evans, a medical geneticist points out that there is not enough information to explain the genetics of taste buds. Human have different taste sensitivity to a variety of substances. The way in which individuals experience taste is determined by genetic mechanisms. Vinome is also promising that they will be able to analysis each individuals fitness and athletic training, weight and nutrition. This is also a promise the company has made that cannot be true because genetics involves complex genes and environmental factors.

            The company argues that with their team of geneticists they are not completely off track with determining what wines taste better based on genes for taste such as TAS2R38. There was an experiment done with 500 people to analyses 40 genetic variations. Each person taste different types of wine and fill out a survey towards the end of the experiment that asked the participants what wine they preferred. However, this did not convince geneticist because there was no control group in the experiment. The Vinome company should not use genetics as a way to sell their product. Although the company has their own team of geneticist it still seems as though the company is bypassing evidence that their products can keep the promises that they pitch of determining  the right wine for their customers.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16124860

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/one-start-up-claims-to-tailor-wine-to-your-dna/

 

 

Another Victory For Beer Science

Pictured above is an orange colored gall which is responsible for harboring the species of yeast that is used to make lager beer. Thanks to a brand new method, interspecies yeast hybrids (like the ones used to make lager beer) are now able to be made in the lab easily. This means that the makers of beer, wine, biofuels, and many other products will now soon have other strains of the yeast species to work with.

This discovery is great because an interspecies hybrid of yeast has a one in a billion chance of appearing in nature which means that waiting on nature to create the next new yeast is not very efficient. Now in a laboratory they can achieve a hybrid in about one in a thousand cells. 

Currently popular strains of yeast used to make beer and wine tend to be sterile which means they can't create spores and therefore can't make more of themselves to continue making the beer and wine. With the new interspecies hybrids and the use of plasmids, a trait to make the popular yeast strain fertile could be implanted into the DNA of the popular yeast. 

Genetically Modified Yeast May Boost Health Benefits of Wine

Yeast is a very important part of the production of fermented foods. Such as cheese, wine, and beer. For many decades scientists have struggled with altering the genomes of yeast due to polyploidy. Polyploidy is problematic because once you successfully manage to alter a specific gene the unchanged copies can automatically correct the modification. This undoes the entire process. Scientists at the University of Illinois recently created a enzyme that acts as a, "knife", which seletcively slices through multiple copies of a gene in a very specific manner. The researchers showed that it is possible to use this to modify the genome of the industrial strain of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is mainly used in the production of beer, wine, and other fermented products.

This is turn can reduce hangovers and increase the nutritional benefits of wine. This happens because the genetically modified yeast contains 10 times the amount of resveratol, a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that is associated with a plethora of health benefits. I believe this is a great discovery in genetics. This is because it is applying science to another aspect of our lives to improve it, along with our health. It also may bring science to light of people who do not normally care for it, which could increase funding. This study also gave scientist's insight on a specific way of looking at genes that could determine flavor.

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/gm-yeast-could-boost-health-benefits-wine-and-reduce-hangovers

Wine Shelf Life Prolonged

            Wine is consumed all over the world everyday.  Different regions provide various grapes and styles but no matter where you are, your wine will eventually go bad just like any other food or drink.    Wine is filled with minerals from grapes that grow from the soil.  In particular, wine has iron present in it that becomes oxidized with time.  This results in an undesirable taste and smell.  In white wine, a brownish color can result as an effect of this oxidation as well as the depletion of key fruit flavors.  The oxygen enters the bottle mainly through the porous cork since it is usually present in the wine bottle.  Often times wine is saved for additional uses.  Wine can be very expensive at times so therefore there is a need to preserve it for as long as possible.  If only there was a way to preserve the life of our wine. 

            Thanks to research done by Gal Kreitman at Penn State University, there might be an answer to our limited wine shelf life dilemma.  By adding chelation compounds the researchers were able to bind them to the metals to prevent the oxidation caused by the presence of iron and copper.  There are two kinds of oxidation states, iron 2 and iron 3, in wine.  The team at Penn State decided to examine the chelators that would counteract the oxidation, which included phytic acid, ethylenediaminetertraacetic acid, Ferrozine, and bipyridne.  The ligands of these chelators allow them to bind to the central atoms of the metals.  Wine preservation has been attempted in other ways.  Previous efforts have included trying to take the metals completely out of the wine and ion exchange.  Without metal there is no oxidation, but accomplishing this is too expensive, not to mention its adverse effects on the taste and color of the wine.  Although this research has promise in reducing the oxidation of iron and copper in wine, it hasn’t been proved yet to be safe for humans to drink.  More research is required before we can start to drink wine with oxidation resistant chelators in it. 

Sources: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131121105159.htm

http://gizmodo.com/why-genetically-engineered-grapes-would-make-great-wine-1447996387