Are you a coffee or beer drinker? Your choice of beverage could affect your genome.
Professor Martin Kupiec and his research team at Tel Aviv University's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology have discovered that while coffee charges you up and beer tires you, they may have opposite effects on your genome.
The research was published in PLOS Genetics , and researchers from TAU's Blavatnik School of Computer Science and Columbia University's Department of Biological Sciences also collaborated on the same.
The researchers were working with a type of yeast that shares several genetic similarities with humans and discovered that caffeine and alcohol have opposite effects on telomeres. Telomeres are the end strands DNA in our chromosomes and caffeine shortens them, whereas alcohol elongates them.
"For the first time we've identified a few environmental factors that alter telomere length, and we've shown how they do it," said Prof. Kupiec. "What we learned may one day contribute to the prevention and treatment of human diseases."
The researchers were working on expanding a study that suggested emotional stress causes the shrinking of telomeres.
Telomeres, which are made of protein, ensure that the DNA is repaired and copied correctly. Each time a cell gets duplicated, the chromosomes are copied into a new cell but has slightly shorter telomeres. When the telomeres become too short over time the cell dies. Only cancerous cells are capable of avoiding this end and continue reproducing perennially.
In the present study, Kupiec and his team grew yeast cells under conditions that generated "free radicals" to test the effect on the length of telomeres. The researchers were astounded by the discovery that the length of the telomeres was unaffected.
The TAU researchers scanned 6,000 strains of the yeast to understand the changes. Each of the strains had a different gene activated. Scientists conducted genetic tests on the yeast strains with the shortest and longest telomeres which revealed that the genes Rap1 and Rif1 are the main catalysts that mediate as environmental stressors and affect telomere length.
Per the research, nearly 400 genes interact to preserve the length of the telomeres. However, what is intriguing is that the yeast genes are also present in the human genome.
The researchers constantly exposed the yeast cells to 12 different types of environmental conditions that could cause stress. These stressors included temperature and pH level changes, various drugs and chemical usage; however, the telomere length was not affected.
However, when a low concentration of caffeine, similar to what is found in an espresso shot, was applied the telomeres shrunk. On the other hand, when the telomeres were exposed to a 5 percent to 7 percent ethanol solution, the length of the telomeres increased.
"This is the first time anyone has analyzed a complex system in which all of the genes affecting it are known," said Prof. Kupiec. "It turns out that telomere length is something that's very exact, which suggests that precision is critical and should be protected from environmental effects."
However, to prove that a fundamental relationship between exists between telomere length and aging or cancer, more lab work is required per researchers. For now, the professor advises that individuals should "Try to relax and drink a little coffee and a little beer."
