Fear factor The idea that any amount of ionizing radiation – no matter how tiny – can be harmful to humans has, some say, held back the development of nuclear power. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/fewerton) Ionizing radiation can damage living organisms, that’s clear. But there are big questio...
How does EM radiation damage change with frequency?Question:How does EM radiation damage change with frequency?Ionizing Radiation:Ionizing radiation consists of electromagnetic waves or particles that have sufficient energy to break biochemical bonds. Gamma rays, X-rays, and parts of the ultraviolet (...
Nuclear radiation Random chemical reactions in the cell Therefore, mutations are fairly common. Mutations happen at a steady rate in any population, but the location and type of every mutation is completely random. According to Carl Sagan in "The Dragons of Eden": Large organisms such as human...
This imbalance causes the damage of important biomolecules and cells, as well as potential impacts on the organisms [10]. ROS play a central role both upstream and downstream of NF-κB and TNF-α pathways, which are located at the center of the inflammatory response. The hydroxyl radical is...
Not only do melanocytes produce a tan, they are also responsible for the form of cancer calledmelanoma. Melanoma is caused by UV radiation damage to melanocytes. Repeated exposure to UV can cause cancerous mutations. The Dermis The dermis is where the action is functionally. The dermis contains...
For example, many transition metals can act as drugs themselves when excited by light radiation. Depending on the excitation process and the type of metal involved, when the absorbed energy is released, it can damage the DNA and/or modify the protein, promote lipid peroxidation and destroy the...
Nuclear radiation Random chemical reactions in the cell Therefore, mutations are fairly common. Mutations happen at a steady rate in any population, but the location and type of every mutation is completely random. According to Carl Sagan in "The Dragons of Eden": Large organisms such as human...
Lacking human oversight, glitches in oil refineries and nuclear plants would go unchecked, likely resulting in massive fires, nuclear explosions anddevastating nuclear fallout. "There's going to be a gush of radiation if suddenly we disappear. ...
up of research into, first of all, where exactly this stuff is in the environment. We have a good handle on that now. Now more of the attention is turning to the consequences of this truly omnipresent pollutant that is in all these different environments and all these different organisms. ...
An X-ray, a cosmic ray or a stray chemical reaction can change or damage the DNA strand. In most cases, a particular E. coli cell with mutated DNA will either die, fix the damage in the strand or fail to reproduce. In other words, most mutations go nowhere. But every so often, a...