by Sandra Huffman ’86

Hailey Steele ’25, a biology major with a chemistry and healthcare and medical humanities minor, stood in front of the auditorium in the Brooks Science Center on Friday, April 18, during the 16th Annual Barsy-Colgan Student Research Day. Looking at those in attendance, she said, “I know what you’re thinking. This woman really stood up here and told me not to eat my [favorite chips], not to drink my red [sports drink]. Well, don’t fear, we’re not doomed.”

Steele was concluding a presentation of her senior thesis research titled “The Cytotoxicity of Synthetic Dye Red 40 and Metabolite Cresidine-4-sulfonate on the Caco-2 Human Colon Cell Line.” In layperson’s terms, this meant the study of synthetic dye Red 40 and its relationship to colon cancer. Steele chose this topic simply to educate and raise awareness, but what her research ultimately did was probe the effect of food additives on human health.

At Wilson, students have a unique opportunity with their senior research. They get to build their projects from the ground up rather than follow in the footsteps of their faculty as students often do at other institutions. This initially felt challenging to Steele. She said, “It’s actually kind of difficult to choose your project, because you are told the sky is the limit, but you still have to make sure the research can be conducted at an undergraduate level.”

When it came time for Steele to decide on a topic, she thought about members of her family who mentioned their children bounced off the walls after consuming food containing Red 40. After conducting background research, she found a bigger concern: a potential link between Red 40 consumption and colon cancer cases. The western diet, specifically in the United States, comprises heavily processed foods and laboratory studies show that this ultra-processed diet increases inflammation. Long-term inflammation in the human body is a condition that can potentially lead to cancer.

Steele reviewed studies of Red 40 in relation to cell cultures and discovered most research did not investigate the intestinal breakdown of Red 40 into two main substances, one being the metabolite cresidine-4-sulfonate. Steele then questioned whether Red 40, or these substances, might impact the health of human colon cells.

“I initially hypothesized that I would see a decrease in the percent cell viability as I increased the concentrations of Red 40 and cresidine-4-sulfonate. But I further hypothesized that the cresidine-4-sulfonate would induce a greater decrease in the cell viability when compared to Red 40.”

To do this, Steele cultured and grew human colon cells, treated them with varying amounts of Red 40 and cresidine-4-sulfonate, and tested the cell viability. The percentage of human colon cells surviving after exposure to Red 40 and cresidine-4-sulfonate decreased significantly, which suggested this exposure could be toxic to human colon cells. The cresidine-4-sulfonate had a greater negative impact on the cells than Red 40 alone.

Steele now had statistical evidence that Red 40 not only prevented cells from remaining healthy, but it was also killing the cells. Although her research did not go exactly as planned, she felt satisfied that her results matched her hypotheses.

Just days after Steele presented her findings at Wilson’s 2025 Student Research Day, she learned that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced intentions to “phase out” the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes from medications and the nation’s food supply by the end of 2026; specifically red dye 40, yellow dyes 5 and 6, blue dyes 1 and 2, and green dye 2.

The proposed federal ban on synthetic dyes results from their potential to cause health problems, such as hyperactivity, inflammation, and cancer. For Steele, no matter what risk the FDA cites, it will be a win. “I hope the ban ends up going through and that we, as a whole, shift to using more natural dyes. The actual food that we’re eating and consuming doesn’t need to be bright colors. And if manufacturers want to achieve colors like
that, there are natural sources available.”

MORE ABOUT HAILEY STEELE

• The Margaret Criswell Disert Honors Scholar 2024-25.
• E. Grace White Prize Recipient, May 2025.
• PAS Spychala Student Presentation Award – Third Place for her oral presentation (see page 19).
• Barsy-Colgan Academic Research Award recipient, May 2024.
• Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa, the leadership honor society.
• Member of Chi Alpha Sigma, the scholar-athlete honor society.
• Member of Phi Beta Kappa, the academic honor society, inducted as a junior.
• Laboratory Assistant for biology, anatomy, chemistry, and microbiology.
• Captain of the women’s field hockey team for three years.