Today’s NY Times tell us that Japanese researchers reporting in Nature Genetics have identified a single gene responsible for determining whether a person has wet or dry ear wax (cerumen).
I remember reading a few years back that there may be an association between cerumen type and breast cancer risk. I decided to read the article itself in Nature Genetics to see if the Japanese researchers had also remembered this connection. They did, only to dismiss it as “controversial”, based on a reference from 1971. However, more recent articles I found, including these studies from 1975, 1981 and 1990, appear to support the connection.
The researchers hypothesize in their article that because folks with dry ear wax also produce less sweat, the genetic variation found may be due to an adaptive mutation that allowed survival in cold climates.
Interestingly, the countries with the highest incidence of breast cancer are Sweden and Denmark, both Northern countries with colder climates. Hmm… Maybe this gene will turn out to be more important than its discoverers realize.
Interesting connection and certainly worth following up with further research. Did you catch your own ? unintended pun from your ‘About Me’ write-up??
Mama Mia: Ha, Ha. Are you saying that I wax prolific about ear wax?