Scientific American - September 2018

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September 2018, ScientificAmerican.com 21

pure antioxidants worked, they began
äxDß`šž³… ̧ßD­ ̧ßxD† ̧ßlDU§x³DîøßD§
source. They found it in argan, an olivelike
fruit used for food and cosmetics. The
trees it grows on are famously frequented
by domesticated goats.
Matallana and her team treated three
varieties of wine yeast ( Saccharomyces
cerevisiae ) with argan oil, dehydrated them
and later rehydrated them. The oil protect-
ed important proteins in the yeasts from
oxidation and boosted wine fermentation,
the researchers reported in a study pub-

lished online in June in Innovative Food Sci-
ence & Emerging Technologies.
Microbiologists are now interested in
studying how and why each yeast strain
responded to the argan oil as it did, says
enologist Ramón González of the Institute
of Grapevine and Wine Sciences in Logroño,
Spain, who was not involved in the work.
The oil may one day enable vintners to use
a wider range of specialized yeasts, putting
more varied wines on the menu. As for how
îšx ̧ž§D†x`îxlîšxÿž³xÜäîDäîxj$DîD§§D³D
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5 ̧`D§`ø§DîxîšxžlxD§Dx… ̧ßîšx‰ßäîä`ßxx³-
ing, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle and their
colleagues analyzed patient data detailing
¿ ́UxšDþž ̧ßD§ÇDîîx߳䞳`§ølž³xĀxß`žäxj
alcohol and red meat consumption, body
­Dääž³lxĀD³lDäǞߞ³øäxD³léðx³xîž`
markers associated with colorectal cancer.
The results suggest that 15 percent of
men with no family history of the disease
should start getting scoped before age 45,
whereas half of women with no family his-
î ̧ßā` ̧ø§lÿDžîø³îž§îšxāDßxDî§xDäîŠé
and 10 percent of those could start as late as
éÍ5šžßîxx³āxDßä ̧…lDîD…ß ̧­ÇDßîž`žÇD³îä
of European descent showed that hormone
replacement therapy reduced women’s
cancer risk, that men were more likely to
engage in risky behaviors such as drinking
and smoking, and that being overweight
was a higher risk for men than women.
5šxäîølāÜ䉳lž³äjÇøU§žäšxlž³ ø³x
in Gastroenterology, also call into question

the assumption that a family history of the
disease always calls for early screening.
The researchers found that more than half
̧…ÿ ̧­x³D³l¿ŠÇxß`x³î ̧…­x³ÿžîš
a family history could wait until 50 for a
‰ßäî` ̧§ ̧³ ̧ä` ̧ÇāÍ5šxäx‰³lž³äDßxDäîxÇ
toward individualized screening guidelines
but should not be considered medical
advice, says Jihyoun Jeon of the University
of Michigan, the study’s lead author.
Ù5šxäîølāžä䞐³ž‰`D³îUx`DøäxZlžä-
ease] models don’t usually combine both
genetics and habits to predict colon cancer
risk,” says Brian Wells, a biostatistician at
the Wake Forest School of Medicine, who
was not involved in the work. “But the
authors did not tell us how many colonos-
copies could be avoided and how many
colorectal cancers could be prevented
using this model and how this compares
with the current guidelines. This compari-
son is needed to evaluate risks versus ben-
x‰îä… ̧ßîšxßxD§ÿ ̧ߧlÍÚ Heather Stringer

Tree-climbing goats in an argan tree.

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