Health experts have been wary of high fructose corn syrup for years. The sweetener — common in soda and processed foods — has increasingly crept its way into our meals. At the same time, rates of obesity and diseases like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure have increased. Now, a new study out in Science has given us another reason to worry about the sugary additive: it can boost tumor growth in mice.
Researchers from Baylor University and Cornell University developed a mouse model that mimics the early stages of colon cancer. To do this, the group deleted a gene called APC. “APC is a gatekeeper in colorectal cancer,” says Jihye Yun, a geneticist at Baylor, in a press release. “Deleting this protein is like removing the brakes of a car. Without it, normal intestinal cells neither stop growing nor die, forming early stage tumors called polyps. More than ...
