Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are unraveling the biochemical mechanism by which functional foods combat cancer. “Compounds like sulforaphane in broccoli and resveratrol in wine have been shown to prevent cancer,” said Andrew Mesecar, associate professor of pharmaceutical biotechnology in the UIC College of Pharmacy. “They do that by signaling our bodies to ramp up the production of proteins capable of preventing damage to our DNA. “We now have a good idea how that signal works.” The findings are published in this week’s Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.