UV Exposure

Question 1

What type of wavelength is more damaging to cells?

Answer 1

Shorter wavelengths

Question 2

What wavelength is UV radiation the most germicidal? Why?

Answer 2

260nm because DNA maximally absorbs UV light at that wavelength and causes pyrimidine dimers -> cause the DNA to become deformed -> DNA polymerase cannot replicate DNA strands past the location of the dimer -> genes can’t be transcribed

Question 3

What is a way that cells have developed repair mechanisms to deal with mutational changes?

Answer 3

Can remove the dimers and insert new pyrimidine molecules