DNA repair
hideDNA repair refers to a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human cells, both normal metabolic activities and environmental factors such as UV light and Radiation can cause DNA damage, resulting in as many as 1 million individual molecular lesions per cell per day. Many of these lesions cause structural damage to the DNA molecule and can alter or eliminate the cell's ability to transcribe the gene that the affected DNA encodes. Other lesions induce potentially harmful mutations in the cell's genome, which affect the survival of its daughter cells after it undergoes mitosis. Consequently, the DNA repair process is constantly active as it responds to damage in the DNA structure.
The rate of DNA repair is dependent on many factors, including the cell type, the age of the cell, and the extracellular environment. A cell that has accumulated a large amount of DNA damage, or one that no longer effectively repairs damage incurred to its DNA, can enter one of three possible states:
The DNA repair ability of a cell is vital to the integrity of its genome and thus to its normal functioning and that of the organism. Many genes that were initially shown to influence lifespan have turned out to be involved in DNA damage repair and protection. Failure to correct molecular lesions in cells that form gametes can introduce mutations into the genomes of the offspring and thus influence the rate of evolution.
For more information about DNA repair, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with dna damage
What's in your water?: Disinfectants create toxic by-products
Mar 31, 2009 |
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Although perhaps the greatest public health achievement of the 20th century was the disinfection of water, a recent study now shows that the chemicals used to purify the water we drink and use in swimming pools react with ...
New study overturns orthodoxy on how macrophages kill bacteria
Apr 27, 2009 |
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For decades, microbiologists assumed that macrophages, immune cells that can engulf and poison bacteria and other pathogens, killed microbes by damaging their DNA. A new study from the University of Illinois ...
Stress makes your hair go gray
Jun 11, 2009 |
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Those pesky graying hairs that tend to crop up with age really are signs of stress, reveals a new report in the June 12 issue of Cell.
Nanoparticles may cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have shown in the laboratory that metal nanoparticles damaged the DNA in cells on the other side of a cellular barrier. The research, by the University of Bristol, is published ...
Scientists discover source of cancer stem cells' resistance to radiation
Feb 04, 2009 |
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Much to the dismay of patients and physicians, cancer stem cells — tiny powerhouses that generate and maintain tumor growth in many types of cancers — are relatively resistant to the ionizing radiation often used as therapy ...
Scientists find missing puzzle piece of powerful DNA repair complex
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have found, crystallized, and biologically characterized a poorly defined component of a key molecular complex that helps people to avoid cancer, but that also ...
Heat forms potentially harmful substance in high-fructose corn syrup
Aug 26, 2009 |
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Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears ...
Study of huge numbers of genetic mutations point to oxidative stress as underlying cause
Sep 07, 2009 |
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A study that tracked genetic mutations through the human equivalent of about 5,000 years has demonstrated for the first time that oxidative DNA damage is a primary cause of the process of mutation - the fuel for evolution ...
Researchers use drug-radiation combo to eradicate lung cancer
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have eliminated non-small cell lung (NSCL) cancer in mice by using an investigative drug called BEZ235 in combination with low-dose radiation.
Daily sex helps to reduce sperm DNA damage and improve fertility
Jun 30, 2009 |
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Daily sex (or ejaculating daily) for seven days improves men’s sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage, according to an Australian study presented today (Tuesday) to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society ...
Heat forms potentially harmful substance in high-fructose corn syrup
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (4) |
4
Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears ...
New step in DNA damage response in neurons discovered
Biology /
Jan 18, 2009 |
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Researchers have identified a biochemical switch required for nerve cells to respond to DNA damage. The finding, scheduled for advance online publication in Nature Cell Biology, illuminates a connection between proteins involv ...
Reactive oxygen in fruit flies acts as a cell signalling mechanism for immune response
Sep 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, health conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative ...
Scientists develop method for comprehensive proteome analysis
Apr 08, 2009 |
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Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have deciphered a large percentage of the total protein complement (proteome) in Schizosaccharomyces pombe (S. pombe) fission yeast.
BRIT1 allows DNA repair teams access to damaged sites
Jun 19, 2009 |
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Like a mechanic popping the hood of a car to get at a faulty engine, a tumor-suppressing protein allows cellular repair mechanisms to pounce on damaged DNA by overcoming a barrier to DNA access.
