EVEN the great-grandchildren of people exposed to radiation could inherit unstable genomes, a new study suggests. This instability may be the cause of the leukaemia cluster around Britain’s Sellafield nuclear plant.
Studies over the past few years have shown radiation damage to be surprisingly persistent. It increases mutation rates not just in cells directly zapped by radiation, but also in descendant cells many divisions later. Birth defects are more common in the offspring of mice exposed to radiation, and in the following generation too. Mutation rates are also high in both generations (Nature, vol 405, p 37).
Now geneticists…
