Alcohol can cause irreversible genetic damage to stem cells, says study

Link between drinking and cancer clarified by study which indicates alcohol causes cancer by scrambling DNA in cells, eventually leading to mutations

Alcohol can cause irreversible genetic damage to the body's reserve of stem cells, according to a study that helps explain the link between drinking and cancer.

The research, using genetically modified mice, provides the most compelling evidence to date that alcohol causes cancer by scrambling the DNA in cells, eventually leading to deadly mutations.