DNA Damage Types

depurination

A natural process that hydrolyzes a nitrogenous base. resulting in a random base being incorporated afterwards

deamination

A natural process that occurs when an amino group is lost, resulting in a permanent transition mutation in 2 generations

X-ray Damage

A natural type of DNA damage that results in double-stranded breaks of DNA. Causing translocations, inversions, and deletions

UV light damage

A natural type of DNA damage that results in thymine dimers that block replication and can lead to mutations

Oxidative damage

A type of natural DNA damage that causes an oxygen molecule to be added to guanine, resulting in a mutation (transversion)

Base tautomerization

Bases have two tautomers with similar chemical forms that interconvert regularly, which can cause incorrect base matching. This can lead to permanent mutations after rounds of replication.