From Michigan State University Research may take the 'anti' out
of antioxidants Robert Hausinger and Timothy Henshaw EAST
LANSING, Mich. -- In the quest to repair damaged DNA -- a
process believed crucial in combating ailments ranging from
cancer to aging -- antioxidant has been the Holy Grail. But
findings published this week in Nature suggest oxidation isn't
always the enemy. Scientists at Michigan State University, along
with colleagues in England, have uncloaked a mechanism that uses
oxygen to repair DNA -- until now an unlikely part of the
restorative recipe. Their work is published in the Sept. 12
issue of the British science journal Nature. "This offers
possibilities to anyone working in the DNA repair field who
likely hasn't considered oxygenation before," said Robert
Hausinger, an MSU microbiology and biochemistry professor. "The
field has been so focused against it." Hausinger, his doctoral
student Timothy Henshaw and colleagues from the Cancer Research
UK London Research Institute in Hertfordshire,