Induced Mutations from DNA Damage by Chemicals + Radiation

Question 1

e.g of mutagen that’s a natural component of environment

Answer 1

fungal toxins
cosmic rays
UV light

Question 2

e.g of unnatural/human made mutagens

Answer 2

industrial pollutants, medical X-rays, chemicals in tobacco smoke

Question 3

what are compounds called that can substitute for purines/ pyrimidines

Answer 3

base analogs

Question 4

what’s first chemical mutagens identified in chemical warfare

Answer 4

sulfur-containing mustard gas

Question 5

what do mustard gases do in nucleotides

Answer 5

donate alkyl group to amino/keto groups

Question 6

what are intercalating agents

Answer 6

chemicals that have dimension + shapes so wedge between DNA base pairs

Question 7

what do wedged intercalating agents do

Answer 7

cause base pairs to distort and DNA to unwind

Question 8

what good thing are some intercalating agents used for

Answer 8

cancer treatments (chemotherapy)

Question 9

what’s a group of chemicals that cause mutations

Answer 9

adduct-forming agents

Question 10

what’s the mutagenic component of cigarette smoke

Answer 10

acetaldehyde

Question 11

when are heterocyclic amines (HCAs) causing cancer produced

Answer 11

when cooking some meats

Question 12

what wavelengths can disrupt organic molecules (UV light)

Answer 12

waves of shorter length than visible light

Question 13

what do purines and pyrimidines do when it comes to UV light

Answer 13

absorb it

Question 14

how many DNA lesions can UV induce in an hour

Answer 14

1000s

Question 15

what’s a major effect of UV radiation that distorts DNA and stops normal replication, introducing errors

Answer 15

pyrimidine dimers

Question 16

3 rays that are more energetic than UV and penetrate deeply into tissues

Answer 16

X rays
Gamma rays
Cosmic rays

Question 17

what do X rays, Gamma rays and Cosmic rays cause

Answer 17

ionisation of molecules

Question 18

what does ionisation of molecules turn stable molecules + atoms into

Answer 18

free radicals

Question 19

e.g of what free radicals can do

Answer 19

alter pruines + pyramidines
break phosphodiester bonds
produce chromosomal aberrations (deletions, translocations, fragmentation)

Question 20

how much of human radiation exposure is from human-made sources

Answer 20

less than 20%

Question 21

where does more than half human-made radiation exposure come from

Answer 21

medical x-rays

radioactive pharmaceuticals