Brown K
Environ Health Perspect. 1999 Oct;107(10):A515-6. doi: 10.1289/ehp.99107a515.
Corn and other crops contaminated with the fungus Aspergillus flavus give off a carcinogenic by-product called aflatoxin, which is blamed for high rates of liver cancer in Asia and Africa, where rice and corn are food staples. In the United States, aflatoxin's major threat is to farm animals, which can get sick or even die from consuming too much of the toxin. Scientists are working on ways to keep the deadly toxin out of the food supply. Two techniques under development identify aflatoxin-tainted corn by using infrared light to elicit telltale sounds and light from contaminated kernels. Other scientists hope to protect corn from A. flavus in the first place by designing genetically engineered aflatoxin-resistant grain species and by working with drugs such as oltipraz that reportedly detoxify aflatoxin already in the body.
玉米和其他被黄曲霉污染的作物会产生一种名为黄曲霉毒素的致癌副产品，在亚洲和非洲，玉米和大米是主食，那里的肝癌高发就归咎于此。在美国，黄曲霉毒素的主要威胁在于农场动物，它们食用过多这种毒素会生病甚至死亡。科学家们正在研究如何使这种致命毒素远离食物供应。正在研发的两项技术通过使用红外光来引发受污染玉米粒发出特征性声音和光亮，以此识别被黄曲霉毒素污染的玉米。其他科学家则希望首先通过设计具有抗黄曲霉毒素基因的谷物品种，以及使用诸如奥替普拉这类据报道能使体内已有的黄曲霉毒素解毒的药物，来保护玉米免受黄曲霉的侵害。
