Radiation-induced hereditary effects

Genetic damage occurs when the DNA of sperm or egg cells are damaged. This causes a harmful characteristic that is passed on from one generation to the next. Animal studies, such as those conducted on fruit flies by Hermann J. Muller in 1926, showed that radiation will cause genetic mutations. However, to date there have been no known genetic effects in humans caused by radiation. This includes studies involving some 30,000 children of survivors of the atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945 (BEIR VII).