BYU researchers have dropped another pinch of bitterness into America's coffee cup. Ironically, their study says caffiene may cause problems by keeping cells healthy. Science specialist Ed Yeates has more on the story:

That morning, afternoon or evening cup of coffee is as traditional as apple pie. But BYU microbiologist Kim O'Neill says the caffeine inside may be doing some not so traditional things inside the body.

In O'Neil's studies, caffeine appeared to encourage the growth of cancer cells, but in a rather innocent fashion. Unlike a traditional carcinogen which damages healthy cells, caffeine extends their life. That's okay if the cell is normal. But a cancer cell is abnormal because the switch which normally kicks in telling the cell to self-destruct doesn't seem to work.

((DR. KIM O'NEILL, BYU MICROBIOLOGIST: "AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THIS PROGRAM AND WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT CAFFEINE PREVENTS THIS PROGRAM FROM BEING SWITCHED ON AND THEREFORE THE CELLS DON'T DIE WHEN THEY SHOULD DIE."))

In the lab, Dr O'Neil's colleagues dosed Leukemia cells with caffeine, then used a heat shock technique to induce cell death. Normally, the DNA inside a cell breaks down first - followed by other events which lead to its death. Once DNA is damaged inside a cell the body naturally has it commit suicide so it won't pass on deficiencies to other cells. But again, Dr O'Neil says caffeine appears to interfere with this natural process.

(("WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW IS HOW DOES CAFFEINE DO THAT? WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS TO SEE IF WE CAN ESTABLISH HOW IN FACT IT PREVENTS THIS PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH."))

Before joining BYU, O'Neil was a research officer at the University of Ulster in Ireland. He helped develop a new procedure which monitors the effects of chemicals on cells and their DNA.

Again, this study is preliminary. A lot of "IF'S" still unanswered. What happens on a laboratory bench in a cell culture and what happens when you actually consume foods and drinks with caffeine while the cells are in the body may involve two different scenarios.

O'Neil agrees more research is essential to see if scientists can duplicate the findings in other kinds of studies.