By Kellie Britch, College of Arts and Sciences
In the 30 years since Marcus Cooke, a professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences, began studying DNA damage, he has made a career of better understanding the environmental exposures that lead to development of major diseases such as cancer.
鈥淓xposures in our environment can lead to major diseases, and my work is to identify
precisely what in this complex 鈥榮oup鈥� of exposures is particularly harmful,鈥� said
Cooke. 鈥淢y hope is that we can identify cancer risk factors that are in the environment
so that we can develop mitigation strategies.鈥�
Cooke and his team use an approach called DNA adductomics to identify DNA adducts
鈥� chemical modifications that occur when reactive compounds bind to DNA molecules.
Their work has uncovered some interesting findings.
鈥淚 was surprised when our DNA damage approach, DNA adductomics, worked using urine,鈥�
said Cooke. 鈥淚t was amazing to discover just how many adducts there are in urine 鈥�
well over 1,000 鈥� and how many different kinds of damage there are.鈥�
While you can also examine damage to DNA and RNA in body tissues, using urine has
given Cooke and his colleagues a non-invasive approach. Once they identify the types
and levels of damage, they then link them back to possible agents in the environment.
The tools and science have come a long way since Cooke started his research in 1994.
鈥淏ack then we could only look at one type of DNA damage at a time, which was like
trying to appreciate a picture in a closed room by looking through the keyhole,鈥� said
Cooke. 鈥淥ur new, powerful mass spectrometry techniques can look at all the different
types of DNA damage at the same time. This gives a much more comprehensive picture
of the damage to the body and provides many more clues to the types of damaging agents
involved.鈥�
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