Reply #6: These conclusions sound strange. [View All]

[slutticus]

I didn't think that simply having single or double stranded DNA breaks was enough to cause mutations. In order for a mutation to occur, the bases themselves have to be altered, such as the pyrimidine dimers caused by UV radiation. In a worst case scenario, a cell with broken nucleic acid material will simply die. No mutations will be propagated from simply breaking the DNA, right? It's been a while since I've read about DNA repair machanisms. It may have something to do with recombination events. Hmmmm...



I'm interested in seeing the paper that comes out of this.