Revisiting Next Generation Effects of Ionizing Radiation (original) (raw)

We have long wondered whether ionizing radiation to parents, before conception, can cause gene mutations leading to adverse effects in the next generations¹. Animal experiments suggest that de novo gene mutations (DNM) occur with a doubling dose of about one Gy.¹ To address this question in humans, Yeager and colleagues² used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to study DNM in children of parents exposed to Chernobyl radiation before conception. The DNMs detected were predominantly single nucleotide variants (SNV), which did not increase in frequency with estimated parental radiation doses. These negative results were consistent with earlier studies in humans^3,4 and mice⁵. However, the exoneration of SNV as mediators of transgenerational radiation effects does not show that such effects do not exist. Indeed, it is much more plausible that radiation would mediate its mutationa...