Cancer Discussions, Cancer Treatment Options Forum - January 28th, 2010 - 1 Comment
How exactly does radiation cause cancer?
i understand radiation, and that gamma rays are not stopped by our skin – they can only be stopped by something with a density similar to that of very thick lead, and that they mutate DNA somehow, but could someone explain how? 
They are high energy radiations which are so energetic that they can cause damage to our DNA i.e. they can cut it. Our DNA has some gene sequences called onco genes which are precursors of cancerous genes but are not actually cancerous genes. They have such a base sequence that even slight rearrangement in their base sequence activate them and make them cancerous. When gamma rays and even X-rays (long exposure) falls on the body, it (sometimes, not every-time) rearranges these onco genes to make them cancerous.