UF, Trinity College Team Cracks Micronutrient Mystery That Could Be Key to Brain Health, Cancer Defense

An international team of scientists, co-led by researchers at the University of Florida and Trinity College Dublin, has cracked a decades-old mystery in human biology: how our bodies absorb a micronutrient that we rely on for everything from healthy brain function to cancer defense. 

Queuosine – pronounced “cue-o-scene” – is a vitamin-like micronutrient that we can’t make ourselves but can only get from food and our gut bacteria. It’s vital to our health, yet its importance went unnoticed for decades.  

In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers have discovered the gene that allows queuosine to enter the cells, a discovery that opens the door for potential therapies to be created to leverage the micronutrient’s role in cancer suppression, memory and how the brain learns new information. 

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