Recent studies have shown alarming proof that younger and younger people are getting cancer in recent years. There are cases where people have got cancer without the conventional risk factors.
One of the inferences is that environment toxicants are a major risk factor. Health experts have expressed concern about a toxin ‘Bisphenol A,’ widely found in all forms of plastics, water bottles, paper cups, canned foods and even bill receipts. This toxin mimics the action of estrogen - a female hormone.
While a huge body of research on this toxin has been carried out in the West, there is little work on it in India. There is a need to generate evidence on what impact these toxins have on the Indian population. Toward this, the Department of Biotechnology has called for proposals in cancer biology to support research into causes for cancer. One of this is environment epigenetics, a process in which certain chemicals found in the environment alter the functions of genes. The P.S.G. Center for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics here has been selected for this study and it will also receive a financial grant from the DBT.
