Effects of Radiation on Genetics

In people, the effect on genetics due to radiation has not been identified.

In studies of atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with respect to next generation effects, survey items such as impairment at birth, chromosomes, and death (death-related investigations are ongoing) have been investigated, but effects have not been identified. In addition, worldwide, there are any number of places where the average radiation from the ground is known to reach 2x to 10x the values in Japan. People dwelling in these geographic regions do not show an increase in cancer rates. When genes are investigated, in adults, changes thought to be the effect of radiation have increased, but no abnormalities have been identified in the genes of newborns. The mechanisms by which the adverse effects of radiation are not transmitted to the next generation are gradually becoming clearer from stem cell research (ICRP publ. 113).