What happens when you break a chromosome?
Environmental toxins, smoking and sun exposure can cause damage to our DNA. The most dangerous type of DNA damage is a double strand break that can lead to cancer or cell death. Fortunately human cells have complex repair mechanisms to fix DNA damage that occur every day.
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute discovered how Rad51, one of many proteins involved in DNA repair, repair these serious double strand DNA breaks. Within one hour of the break Rad51 build up and spread in two opposite directions from the break to cover the entire chromosome.
Previous studies on other DNA repair proteins like BRAC1 and BRAC2 showed how cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and broccoli can help these proteins repair your DNA.
The malfunctioning of Rad51, BRAC1 and BRAC2 has been linked to breast cancer. Eating a nutritious diet, especially during pregnancy can help protect your baby from DNA damage caused by environmental toxins and other agents, by strengthening your and baby’s DNA repair systems.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090212133209.htm
