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Gut Microbes Combine To Cause Colon Cancer, Study Suggests (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source): Two types of bacteria commonly found in the gut work together to fuel the growth of colon tumors, researchers reported on Thursday. Their study, published in the journal Science, describes what may be a hidden cause of colon cancer, the third most common cancer in the United States. The research also adds to growing evidence that gut bacteria modify the body's immune system in unexpected and sometimes deadly ways. The findings suggest that certain preventive strategies may be effective in the future, like looking for the bacteria in the colons of people getting colonoscopies. If the microbes are present, the patients might warrant more frequent screening; eventually people at high risk for colon cancer may be vaccinated against at least one of the bacterial strains.
Two types of bacteria, Bacteroides fragilis and a strain of E. coli, can pierce a mucus shield that lines the colon and normally blocks invaders from entering, the researchers found. Once past the protective layer, the bacteria grow into a long, thin film, covering the intestinal lining with colonies of the microbes. E. coli then releases a toxin that damages DNA of colon cells, while B. fragilis produces another poison that both damages DNA and inflames the cells. Together they enhance the growth of tumors. Not everyone carries the two types of bacteria in their colon. Those who do seem to pick up microbes in childhood, where they simply become part of the diverse mass of bacteria in the intestinal tract -- the so-called microbiome.
Two types of bacteria, Bacteroides fragilis and a strain of E. coli, can pierce a mucus shield that lines the colon and normally blocks invaders from entering, the researchers found. Once past the protective layer, the bacteria grow into a long, thin film, covering the intestinal lining with colonies of the microbes. E. coli then releases a toxin that damages DNA of colon cells, while B. fragilis produces another poison that both damages DNA and inflames the cells. Together they enhance the growth of tumors. Not everyone carries the two types of bacteria in their colon. Those who do seem to pick up microbes in childhood, where they simply become part of the diverse mass of bacteria in the intestinal tract -- the so-called microbiome.
You are describing a social system that is "amazing". Science gives you the tools, if you hand those tools to profit-driven psychopaths, that's not the tool's fault.
There is a poorly understood symbiotic relationship between humans and the microorganisms that share space within us.
Two people with similar metabolisms and nearly identical diets: One is skinny as a rail, and one spends his life trying to keep the weight off or down, or managed... Fecal transplantation at Johns Hopkins.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
It is likely they have no fucking idea what causes or prevents cancer.
Keep in mind that the issue is infinitely complex. Considering all the interactions of all the possible human cells and bacteria, viruses, etc., it wouldn't surprise me if they discovered some day that some "germs" damage DNA in certain human cells, but protect the DNA of others!