Janice Pluth (Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences) is the corresponding author of the paper which appears in-press within the journal Life Sciences in Space Research. This work used various normal mammary epithelial strains, with and without heterozygote genetic variations for DNA repair genes. The study reveals that genomic instability is higher in the heterozygote variant strains following a single low-dose exposure to HZE (radiation specific to outer space). This increase correlated with elevated check-point activation and suggests that individual genetics can impact cell cycle regulation and modify the degree of genomic instability in response to the complex lesions induced by HZE particles. These results could have significant implications in defining cancer risk in response to HZE exposure for astronauts.
