What does the study hailed as “Aziz Sancar’s discovery that will make people quit smoking” really tell us?

Our source of pride, Turkish scientist Professor Dr. Aziz Sancar, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015, and his team succeeded in mapping DNA damage caused by carcinogens in cigarettes, industrial products and foods using a new method they developed. This study is particularly important for cancer prevention and new-generation drug discovery.

What does the study mean?

So what does this study, which attracted great press and media attention as “Aziz Sancar’s discovery that will make people quit smoking” and motivated many of our citizens to stop, actually tell us?

As is known, the basic cause of cancer is damage occurring in DNA. Our cells are constantly attacked by chemicals and radiation from the external environment. This damages our DNA, and DNA repair systems activate and try to repair the damage. One of the most important of these repair systems is Nucleotide Excision Repair . In this system discovered by Professor Dr. Aziz Sancar, special proteins perform a kind of surgery at the damaged DNA site. The damaged DNA region is removed and a healthy DNA segment is newly produced in its place. The removed gene fragment also enters the bloodstream freely.

The figure above shows the nucleotide excision repair mechanism. The damaged DNA fragment is cut out with special enzymes. The remaining section is synthesized according to the other DNA strand. This repairs the damaged region.

In their study, Aziz Sancar and his team succeeded in capturing, sequencing and identifying damaged DNA fragments—in other words, mapping them. We can liken these damaged gene fragments to puzzle pieces. They are captured, identified and assembled to produce our complete gene map.

The study’s most important feature is that;

this technique successfully mapped damage caused by benzopyrene, one of the carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) in cigarettes. The developed technique is also more effective than previous techniques and can be applied to all types of DNA damage.

So what does this study mean for Cancer treatment?

• With the new method, we will be able to map DNA damage caused by carcinogens in cigarettes. We will also know which regions have been repaired.
• Identifying the DNA regions damaged by carcinogens may enable the development of preventive strategies.
• We will learn more clearly about smoking’s harms. Understanding how smoking-related DNA damage triggers lung cancer may enable new-generation drug development.

In addition;

• We will be able to see what amounts of carcinogens cause serious DNA damage and under what conditions DNA repair systems become inadequate. This will provide important support for protection against carcinogens. 
• We will be able to see differences between people’s DNA repair systems. Low DNA repair capacity is an important factor in cancer development. This may enable identification of cancer-prone individuals (perhaps answering why smoking causes cancer in some people but not others). 
• By identifying gene “hotspots” susceptible to DNA damage or repaired less often, new-generation biomarkers can be defined.

We wholeheartedly share Professor Aziz Sancar’s wish: “I hope no one in my country continues to smoke”...

Related Topics

- One of Aziz Sancar and his team’s most noteworthy discoveries: Circadian rhythm, cancer and chemotherapy!

- The work that earned Aziz Sancar the Nobel Prize: Mechanistic repair of DNA

- How can I quit smoking?