Biology 1002B Lecture Notes - Myc, Immunity (Medical), Francis Crawford Burkitt
24 Aug 2013
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Document Summary
A vast amount of radiation received is a natural part of the environment. Dna suffers reactive oxygen as a result of ionizing radiation all the time. About 10% of total exposure derives from x-rays. Down syndrome incidence spiked in belarus 9 months after chernobyl and there is also an increase in thyroid cancer in children. Reactive oxygen can cause breaks in dna helix, resulting in chromosomal rearrangements. Chromosomal rearrangements are attempts to repair damage to dna. It is impossible to detect substitutions that are wrong; one cannot simply fix mutations. The j"s, d"s and v"s are antibody producing sequences of the antibody genes on chromosome 14. Antibody genes have two enhancers and very powerful expression machinery because when antibodies are needed, they are desirable in great abundance. The translocation of chromosome 8 and 14 puts the oncogene c-myc under the control of these antibody genes.
