Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Biological Effects of Radiation02:59

Biological Effects of Radiation

15.4K
All radioactive nuclides emit high-energy particles or electromagnetic waves. When this radiation encounters living cells, it can cause heating, break chemical bonds, or ionize molecules. The most serious biological damage results when these radioactive emissions fragment or ionize molecules. For example, α and β particles emitted from nuclear decay reactions possess much higher energies than ordinary chemical bond energies. When these particles strike and penetrate matter, they...
15.4K
Mutations01:35

Mutations

36.2K
Mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA. These changes can occur spontaneously or they can be induced by exposure to environmental factors. Mutations can be characterized in a number of different ways: whether and how they alter the amino acid sequence of the protein, whether they occur over a small or large area of DNA, and whether they occur in somatic cells or germline cells.
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
36.2K
Nuclear Power02:36

Nuclear Power

7.7K
Controlled nuclear fission reactions are used to generate electricity. Any nuclear reactor that produces power via the fission of uranium or plutonium by bombardment with neutrons has six components: nuclear fuel consisting of fissionable material, a nuclear moderator, a neutron source, control rods, reactor coolant, and a shield and containment system.
Nuclear Fuels
Nuclear fuel consists of a fissile isotope, such as uranium-235, which must be present in sufficient quantity to provide a...
7.7K
Nucleotide Excision Repair01:38

Nucleotide Excision Repair

3.5K
DNA Distortion and Damage
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...
3.5K
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells02:53

Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells

5.7K
Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
5.7K
Nuclear Transmutation03:20

Nuclear Transmutation

17.5K
Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one nuclide into another. It can occur by the radioactive decay of a nucleus, or the reaction of a nucleus with another particle. The first manmade nucleus was produced in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory in 1919 by a transmutation reaction, the bombardment of one type of nuclei with other nuclei or with neutrons. Rutherford bombarded nitrogen-14 atoms with high-speed α particles from a natural radioactive isotope of radium and observed...
17.5K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

A phase transition modulates the protective function of a tardigrade disordered protein during desiccation.

Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society·2025
Same author

Functional diversity of Arabidopsis late embryogenesis abundant proteins in response to changes in the physicochemical environment.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

A Group 6 LEA Protein Plays Key Roles in Tolerance to Water Deficit, and in Maintaining the Glassy State and Longevity of Seeds.

Plant, cell & environment·2025
Same author

Life on the dry side: a roadmap to understanding desiccation tolerance and accelerating translational applications.

Nature communications·2025
Same author

Diversity in the protective role(s) of the conserved motif 1 from tardigrade cytoplasmic-abundant heat-soluble proteins during drying.

Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society·2025
Same author

LEA_4 motifs function alone and in conjunction with synergistic cosolutes to protect a labile enzyme during desiccation.

Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society·2025
Same journal

Non-canonical amino acid incorporation enables minimally disruptive labeling of stress granule and TDP-43 proteinopathy.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Analysis of dendritic input currents during place field dynamics.

eLife·2026
Same journal

TopoMetry systematically learns and evaluates the latent geometry of single-cell data.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Navigating the path: Advice to physician-scientists on choosing a clinical specialty.

eLife·2026
Same journal

Neural activity profiles reveal overlapping, intermingled subpopulations spanning area borders in mouse sensorimotor cortex.

eLife·2026
Same journal

The exquisite mechanics of a tsetse bite.

eLife·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Single-Animal, Single-Tube RNA Extraction for Comparison of Relative Transcript Levels via qRT-PCR in the Tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris
08:11

Single-Animal, Single-Tube RNA Extraction for Comparison of Relative Transcript Levels via qRT-PCR in the Tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris

Published on: January 3, 2025

424

Surviving extreme radiation.

Chaitra Shree Udugere Shivakumara Swamy1, Thomas C Boothby1

  • 1Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, United States.

Elife
|July 4, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Tardigrades, microscopic animals, possess unique DNA repair mechanisms. They combine existing repair systems with a new protein to fix genome damage caused by intense ionizing radiation.

Keywords:
DNA repairchromosomesgene expressionionizing radiationtardigradetardigrades

More Related Videos

Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation
11:24

Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation

Published on: July 3, 2015

11.1K
Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration in Response to Ionizing Irradiation
09:10

Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration in Response to Ionizing Irradiation

Published on: July 27, 2022

2.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Single-Animal, Single-Tube RNA Extraction for Comparison of Relative Transcript Levels via qRT-PCR in the Tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris
08:11

Single-Animal, Single-Tube RNA Extraction for Comparison of Relative Transcript Levels via qRT-PCR in the Tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris

Published on: January 3, 2025

424
Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation
11:24

Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation

Published on: July 3, 2015

11.1K
Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration in Response to Ionizing Irradiation
09:10

Intestinal Epithelial Regeneration in Response to Ionizing Irradiation

Published on: July 27, 2022

2.2K

Area of Science:

  • Extremophile biology
  • Molecular biology
  • Radiation biology

Background:

  • Tardigrades (water bears) are known for their remarkable resilience to extreme environmental conditions, including high doses of ionizing radiation.
  • Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind this radiation resistance is crucial for astrobiology and radiobiology.

Discussion:

  • This study investigates the specific molecular strategies employed by tardigrades to survive and repair DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation.
  • The research highlights the synergistic action of established DNA repair pathways and a newly identified tardigrade-specific protein.

Key Insights:

  • Tardigrades utilize a sophisticated combination of DNA repair machinery to counteract genomic insults.
  • A novel protein plays a critical role in the efficient repair of DNA double-strand breaks caused by ionizing radiation.

Outlook:

  • Further research into this novel protein could lead to advancements in radioprotective strategies and DNA repair technologies.
  • Exploring tardigrade resilience mechanisms offers insights into the potential for life in extreme extraterrestrial environments.