Common toxin made in gut can cause bowel cancer, scientists find

Discovery suggests screening for bug that creates toxin could prevent thousands of cases

Scientists have raised fresh hopes for preventing bowel cancer after discovering that a common gut bacterium drives genetic mutations that can cause the disease.

Researchers found that a toxin secreted by a particular strain of the microbe E coli creates distinct mutations in DNA, which contribute to an estimated one in 20 bowel cancers in Britain.