Re: Number of chromosome repairs

[Jocelyn Towson <jtowson@nucmed.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au>]

>Dear Radsafers:
>
>A staff member has asked the following question:
>
>What is the average number of chromosome repairs per day?
>

K Britton, in a recent review paper [Towards the goal of cancer-specific
imaging and therapy, Nucl Med Commun 1997; 18:992-1007] says "1,000 to
10,000 DNA molecules are altered each day in each cell and these
alterations are repaired by a whole series of repair mechanisms in normal
use...."   for which his reference is: Lindahl T.  Instability and decay of
the primary structure of DNA.  Nature 1993;362:709-715.
Regards,
Jocelyn Towson

Jocelyn Towson, RSO
Dept of PET & Nuclear Medicine
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Camperdown, NSW 2050
Australia

tel [national]  02 9515 8011    [international] 61 2 9515 8011
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email   jtowson@nucmed.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au