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Maja Divjak (The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia)
DNA encodes the information needed to make proteins, which are the building blocks of our body. To keep 2m of DNA organised within the cell nucleus, it is wound around specialised protein structures called histones, much like thread on a spool. Every day we are bombarded by environmental agents, such as UV radiation, pollution and cigarette smoke that damage our DNA. Even the by-products of metabolism, such as free radicals, can cause damage. Damage to DNA can include single strand breaks, (bright pink, centre), double strand breaks (bottom left corner), changes to the DNA code, DNA kinks and DNA sticking together (illustrated in the accompanying animation). It has been estimated that an individual cell can suffer up to 1 million DNA changes per day. Most of the time our cells do a very good job of dealing with DNA damage. However, sometimes our DNA damage detection and repair systems can go awry, with the potential to cause cancer.