Synthetic food dyes - long blamed for causing hyperactivity in children - may have a good side: some of them may protect against cancer. . .

"The public perception is that food dyes are bad, but some of them may have good points as well," says Orner, who presented her results at the American Association for Cancer Research in San Diego, California, last week.

While the amounts of dye eaten by the fish could be matched by eating a lot of sweets and soft drinks, Orner advises against this strategy. Instead, she says the next step is to understand the mechanism by which these food dyes exert their anti-cancer effect. (Full Story at NewScientist)

Even though we know a great deal more now than 100 years ago, I believe our scope of knowledge is pretty small. Cancer affects so many people, but preventing and treating it still poses massive problems. I hope they get better at it soon.