| Professor John Cummings, who holds a personal chair in experimental gastroenterology, says that we can influence the growth of these “good” bacteria by eating the correct diet.
Professor Cummings outlined his research to an audience of academics, students and members of the public at the Bonar Hall today at the second of the university’s Discovery Days, held to profile the work of its newest professors.
He said there is evidence that probiotics and prebiotics can reduce the risk of cancer by half in animals and it is possible they would have the same effect in humans.
Probiotics have already been shown to be effective in preventing diarrhoea, treating Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and reducing the risk of eczema and asthma in babies when fed to expectant mothers.
Today’s event involved 17 of the university’s latest professorial appointments, who each gave a 15-minute synopsis of their research.
Among those taking part was Professor Mark Chaplain, who gave his inaugural professorial presentation on how applied mathematics can help to improve cancer treatments.
Professor Chaplain is a former pupil of St John’s High School in Dundee and a group of sixth-year mathematics pupils from the school were in the audience to hear his talk.
The event was also expected to be attended by the Ukraine Consul General Olksandr Tsvietkov, as part of his first visit to Dundee.
Professor Cummings said he was initially very sceptical about the claims that “good” bacteria were beneficial for health.
However, he has been won over by the evidence to the point that he and his colleagues are hoping to set up a “mini factory” at Ninewells to produce a probiotic supplement based on “good” bacteria missing in patients with ulcerative colitis.
The treatment would be administered on a synbiotic basis, marrying the bacteria with a dietary supplement known to stimulate its growth naturally in the gut.
Professor Cummings said that a group of carbohydrates, known as oligosaccharides, have been found to have such an effect.
These could easily be incorporated in foods as a substitute for sugar and they are found naturally in artichokes, members of the onions, leeks and garlic family, in beans, peas and soyas and, to a lesser extent, in cereals. In addition, they are found in “huge quantities” in breast milk and may help to explain the protection breast-fed babies have from infection, said the professor.
Professor Chaplain said it is more complicated to work out what happens within a biological system than it is to get to Mars. Nevertheless, mathematical models can be used to predict the behaviour of cancer tumours, in much the same way t scientific data is used to produce a weather forecast. |
