India, March 12 -- A recent study revealed that regular blood donors may develop genetic changes in their blood that could reduce the risk of cancer.
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute found that frequent blood donation is linked to specific mutations in the DNMT3A gene, which may influence how blood cancers develop.
The study analyzed blood samples from 217 men in Germany, aged 60 to 72, who had donated blood over 100 times. Their genetic data was compared to 212 men of a similar age who had donated fewer than 10 times. The results showed that 50 percent of frequent donors carried mutations in their blood stem cells, compared to 30 percent of irregular donors.
To investigate further, researchers genetically modified human blood ...