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Asked by 746816a to Ben, Clare, Ezzy, Mario, Sam on 15 Mar 2012.
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Sam Vinko answered on 14 Mar 2012:
DNA mutation means that the DNA is changed in some way. Radiation can certainly do this, which is why people get cancer from excessive radiation, and in some cases can die as well.
Its important to note that mutation due to radiation will be much more likely to cause damage to the DNA and hinder cell operation rather than do something good, as it is fundamentally random. Think of it as adding or deleting random words in a book, it will probably get worse, not better to read!
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Clare Burrage answered on 15 Mar 2012:
Like Sam says, radiation can damage and change the cells and DNA in our bodies, and we call this mutation. This is almost always bad, for us and damages our bodies. Although doctors do sometimes use very carefully targeted radiation to kill cancers.
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Elizabeth Pearson answered on 15 Mar 2012:
Sam and Clare are right. Most mutations are harmful, knocking out some key bit of DNA or making a cell cancerous. Our bodies are keyed to deal with this though. Your immune system kills at least one cell that would become cancerous everyday.
There is a chance that a mutation can be useful though, in which case evolution will carry it on. But that works best if the mutation happens in an embryo. In an adult it would just change one cell in trillions. No Spiderman senarios though. Sorry.
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