Genomic instability, bystander effects and radiation risks: implications for development of protection strategies for man and the environment.

The last few years has seen what people are now referring to as a "shifting Paradigm" in our way of thinking about radiation effects on biological systems. The concept of the central role of DNA damage due to double strand breaks induced by a radiation "hit" has been itself hit by many studies showing persistent effects in the distant progeny of radiation exposed cells. This phenomenon is known as radiation induced genomic instability. More …