Scientific American - September 2018

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
YAV UZ S A RI Y ILDI Z äDāäžîÿDäÙ³ ̧³ÿxžßlÍÚLucas Laursen

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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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