The Continuity of Life: Genetics and Evolution Radiation UV X-rays Fig. 4.3.2 Common mutagens Chemicals
4.3
Cigarettes
Chemicals in processed and burnt foods
People and Science
Marie Curie made understanding radioactivity her life’s work. She pioneered the first ever trials of radiation therapy to treat cancer.
Curie herself died from a disease of the bone marrow brought on by overexposure to radiation.
Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and the physicist Henri Becquerel. She also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.
Effects of Mutation
Mutations can alter the genes in gametes. These mutations and faulty genes may be passed on to an individual’s children.
At fertilisation, if a zygote receives a faulty gene for a particular trait through the male sperm and a similarly faulty gene for that same trait through the female egg, then the offspring will not have a working copy of that gene.
For example, haemophiliacs do not have a working copy of the gene that makes the blood-clotting protein. As a result, they are at risk of excessive bleeding.
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Learn more about radiation in Earth and Space 24.2
