The offspring of irradiated parents, are they stable?
Ruth C Barber1, Yuri E Dubrova
1Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom. rcb6@le.ac.uk
Abstract:
Mutation induction in directly exposed cells is currently regarded as the main component of the genetic risk of ionising radiation for humans. However, recent studies showing that exposure to ionising radiation results in elevated mutation rates detectable in the non-irradiated progeny of exposed cells challenge the existing paradigm in radiation biology. This review describes some recent data on radiation-induced genomic instability in vitro and mainly focuses on the in vivo phenomenon of transgenerational instability, where elevated mutation rates are detected in the non-exposed offspring of irradiated parents. The possible mechanisms and implications of transgenerational instability are also discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Mutations
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
Mutations
Other Unique Bacteria
Isotopes and Radioisotopes
An isotope containing more...
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
Law of Segregation


