Double Strand Breaks example essay topic

The ESRF is an outstanding example of European cooperation in science. Seventeen nations work together to use the extremely bright beams of light produced by the ESRF's high-performance storage ring to study a remarkably wide range of materials, from biomolecules to nano magnets, from ancient Egyptian cosmetics to metallic foams. The ESRF's trademark is quality - quality of the X-ray beams and the science we produce, quality in the instruments and techniques we develop, and quality of our staff in their support of our external User scientists. Since there are so many areas to research even within this arena, this page will be limited to weakly intense electromagnetic radiation that the general population is exposed to commonly. This obviously leads into topics like cellular phone use and more subtle affects of radiation to Genetic Material!

Recent US studies are showing more significant bio-effects at lower and lower power densities. (See Above) Dr. Henry Lai has reported DNA single and double strand breaks at levels below the current FCC exposure standard. Magras & Xenos have reported irreversible sterility in mice after 5 generations of exposure to. 168 to 1.053 microwatts per square centimeter in an "antenna park". Note that the current, applicable US exposure standard would be 579 microwatts per square centimeter, -- 500 times higher! -- and that this very low exposure level would relate more to a person living near a cellular tower, than a cell phone user.

The DNA strands form a spiral-staircase-like helix, and so breaks on only one side of the ladder are much easier to repair than those where both sides are broken. But in later experiments Lai and Singh found double-strand DNA breaks after similar exposures times and levels. It is possible for the cell to make mistakes when repairing single-strand breaks, but the likelihood of serious mistakes (mutations) increases substantially with double-strand breaks. Another aspect of the Lai-Singh research (with pulsed microwave similar to GSM cell phones and radar) was also disturbing. Rat brains which were excised and prepared quickly for the assay showed fewer breaks, while those which were checked four hours after exposure revealed much higher levels.

This suggests that both the damage and the repair-initiation are not simple and immediate processes, and supports the thesis that DNA damage from repeated uses of a cellphone could be cumulative. The Lorentz force (researched at the cellular level, surmised at the genetic level) The major contributing factor to the 'microwave effect' is actually a reciprocating lorentz-force (force exerted on a charge-carrying substance in the presence of mutually perpendicular electric and magnetic fields - such as in a microwave) exerted on the uneven charge distribution of the DNA / RNA molecule. Thus providing a non-thermal explanation for this phenomenon. If that is the case, then the frequencies involved would almost certainly be very different to the conventional 2450 MHz, since the structures and the forces involved are so different. It would become a microscopic structural resonance issue, as opposed to a purely thermal or purely chemical effect. This would also explain the similarities between the microwave effect and the external-heating method.

With the limitations proposed, there are two major ways genetic damage can occur. You can damage genetic material with temperature (fry the DNA), or you can blame the damage on physical forces (smash the bonds of the DNA causing it to misread RNA). web.