The Chemistry of DNA: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Radiation

Chemistry
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Introduction
The incidences of cancer have continued to be on the rise over the past three decades, and it doesn’t show any signs of reducing any time soon. There is an underlying body of knowledge or assumption linking cancer and radiation .The fact that it is borne out of the malfunctioning of body cells greatly highlights the other effect of radiation as well, which is its effects on body cells. In the medical field, a combination of both biology and physics in terms of the human anatomy, speaks a lot about how cancer is caused by electromagnetic radiation. This paper will analyze the effects caused by ionizing radiation on the DNA, in an attempt to justify the link between cancer and such radiation.
Alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
Radiation is basically the emission of particles from an unstable nucleus. An unstable nucleus is usually as a result of the massive size of the element. There are three types f radiation from this; alpha, beta and gamma radiations. The alpha particle is made up of two protons and two neutrons, resulting to a total mass of 4 and a net charge of +2.This is similar to the Helium nucleus. It is written as  .The beta particle is a high speed electron that is usually emitted from an unstable decaying radioactive isotope. The fact that it is an electron gives it a negative net charge. The high speed is due to the fact that it is virtually massless. It is depicted as (Karam & Steiner, 2009).
The gamma radiation is a wave, and not a particle as the rest. Due to this fact, it has no mass and no charges either. Of all these rays, gamma has the shortest wavelength and extremely high penetrating power (Sonntag, 2005).They is therefore the most dangerous of these three forms of radiation. Beta and alpha particles ionize the medium thy pass through, while gamma doesn’t.
The chemistry of DNA.
Deoxyribonucleic acid, also known as the DNA, is a substance that contains the codes or the messages required by an organism for there to be normal functioning, including life itself. The building blocks of DNA are a phosphate group, a nitrogen base as well as a sugar group. It is the nitrogen base that plays a huge role in the DNA ,since it is made up of four entities; guanine(G),thymine(T),adenine(A) and cytosine(C).The arrangements of these entities in the DNA is what determines the nature of the message and what is to be formed. They form the code of the DNA, also known as genes. These genes are the messengers that inform cells on the type of protein to make, and how they should make it (Rettner, 2013).
It exists as a double heli...