"They found that acetaldehyde can break and damage DNA within blood stem cells, leading to rearranged chromosomes and permanently altering the DNA sequences within these cells," Cancer Research UK, which helped fund the research, said in a statement. "It is important to understand how the DNA blueprint within stem cells is damaged because when healthy stem cells become faulty, they can give rise to cancer." DNA damage can lead to cell death, but can also trigger the body's natural repair mechanisms. And mice lacking ALDH, given alcohol, suffered four times as much DNA damage. "This is beautiful work, which puts our finger on the molecular basis for the link between alcohol and increased cancer risk and stem cells.

Source: Times of India January 04, 2018 07:18 UTC