Research: DNA damage after the Chernobyl accident is not inherited

In the new study, the authors studied germline cells from 130 children using a genome-wide method

All of the subjects were conceived and born after the accident between 1987 and 2002.The goal was to find out whether the number of newly formed mutations in the germline cells of these children exceeded the average for the population. 

The fact is that  mutations and other genetic changes in germline cells are inherited, unlikesomatic cells.

Thanks to the development of the latest methods of genomicsequencing only recently has it become possible to study at the population level the complete triple genome of the father, mother and child, which is necessary for de novo mutation counting.

Scientists today are evaluating DNMs in the population atthe level of 50-100 new mutations per individual in a generation. The results of a new study show that children whose parents were exposed to radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, this figure does not exceed the population average, and they do not have excessive mutations in the cells of the germ line.

Our research does not confirm the transgenerational effect of ionizing radiation on the DNA of the human germ line.

Study conclusion

Read more

The first accurate map of the world was created. What's wrong with everyone else?

See streams of Martian dust from the Ingenuity helicopter

Ingenuity helicopter successfully takes off on Mars