Antioxidant reverses most BPA-induced fertility damage in worms
From plastics to pesticides, it seems like every week delivers fresh news about the dangers of endocrine disruptors — chemicals in the environment that alter the body’s hormones and can lead to reproductive, developmental, neurologic and immune problems, and cancer. Industry regulation and individual consumer choice can reduce exposure to such chemicals, but there are few options to counteract damage that has already occurred. Now new research conducted in worms suggests a path toward changing that. A naturally occurring antioxidant known as Coenzyme Q10, or CoQ10, reversed most of the reproductive harms caused by exposure to the plasticizer BPA (bisphenol A) in Caenorhabditis elegans worms, according to a study led by the lab of Monica Colaiácovo, professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School. The findings, published today in Genetics, provide the first evidence that at least some BPA-induced fertility damage can be undone. “Chemicals are so prevalent in our environment that it was...