HHS HealthBeat (August 19, 2010)

Smoking your genes

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Researchers think gene function shows how smoking sickens people. Scientists examined gene expression, or how genes control cell function, in blood samples from 1,240 people.

The researchers identified 323 genes whose activity was influenced by smoking, including many associated with immune response – and more than 70 cancer-related genes.

Jac Charlesworth of Australia’s Menzies Research Institute did the study at the U.S. Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research:

"The simple message is that exposure to cigarette smoke isn’t simply bad for your health. It’s changing the way your whole body behaves at the fundamental level of your genes."  (9 seconds)

The study in BMC Medical Genomics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 21, 2011