DNA Damage
When a chemical binds to DNA, the DNA becomes damaged, and proper and complete replication cannot occur to make the normal intended cell. This could be the start of a mutation, or mutagenesis, and without proper DNA repair (DNA repair happens naturally under normal circumstances), this can lead to carcinogenesis, the beginnings of cancer.
Read more about this topic: DNA Adduct
Famous quotes containing the words dna and/or damage:
“Here [in London, history] ... seemed the very fabric of things, as if the city were a single growth of stone and brick, uncounted strata of message and meaning, age upon age, generated over the centuries to the dictates of some now all-but-unreadable DNA of commerce and empire.”
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“Instead of asking—”How much damage will the work in question bring about?” why not ask—”How much good? How much joy?””
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)