Scientific American Sep 2018

20 Scientific American September 2018

A A S

CHEMISTRY

Oil in

Your Wine

Argan oil could pave the way for

wine made with more exotic yeasts

  er  reat  otte of  ine begins with a

humble fungal infection. Historically wine-

makers relied on naturally occurring yeasts to

convert grape sugars into alcohol; modern

vintners typically buy one of just a few labora-

tory-grown strains. Now to set their products

apart some of the best winemakers are revis-

iting nature’s lesser-used microbial engineers.

Not all these strains can withstand industrial

Çß ̧lø`îž ̧³Çß ̧`xääxäD³lßxîDž³îšxžßx‡`D`ā

UøîD³DîøßD§Dllžîžþx ̧†xßäDÇ ̧ääžU§xä ̧§øîž ̧³j

new research suggests.

Industrial growers produce yeast in the

presence of oxygen which can damage cell

walls and other important proteins during

a process called oxidation. This can make it

šDßlx߅ ̧ßāxDäîäÿšž`šDßxlxšālßDîxl… ̧ß

䚞ÇǞ³î ̧Çx߅ ̧ß­ÿšx³ÿž³x­D¦xßäßxþžþx

them. Biochemist Emilia Matallana of the Uni-

versity of Valencia in Spain and her colleagues

šDþxUxx³xĀǧ ̧ߞ³ÇßD`îž`D§ÿDāäî ̧…x³l ̧†

such oxidation for years. After showing that

HEALTH

The Inside

Scope

Colon cancer screening guidelines

should be individualized

o one oo s for ar toîšDî‰ßäî` ̧§ ̧³ ̧ä` ̧-

py but this glimpse into the gut is one of the

most powerful existing weapons against colon

cancer. Yet current protocol for when to start

checking for the disease may be too late for

many men and may put many women through

an expensive and unnecessary ordeal a new

study suggests.

Doctors currently advise men and women

with no family histor y of colon cancer or other

risk factors to start undergoing screening at age

50 and sooner for those deemed more at risk.

But this sweeping guideline does not account

… ̧ߞ³lžþžløD§x³xîž`D³l§ž…xäîā§xlž†xßx³`xäÍ