Slide 10

Faulty Gene Repair Activities

Normally, if environmental exposures cause an unwanted molecule to bind to a gene, excision repair proteins rapidly remove that damaged area of the gene. Because the genes in the body that produce these repair proteins can themselves have mutations, people can differ from one to another in their gene repair activities. Unfortunately, genetic variations can make a person's gene repair activities less efficient or more error-prone than normal, and this faulty condition can be passed from generation to generation.