A protein that has a crucial role in repairing long-overlooked DNA damage

Repairing DNA damage in our cells is extremely important to our health. Well, it looks like we’ve been overlooking an essential protein in the process for too long.

DNA damage is something we all deal with on a daily basis. The average person has an estimated 30 to 40 trillion cells in the body and each of these cells experiences 10,000 to 100,000 DNA damage daily.

Such damage is caused, for example, by the sun, which consists mainly of skin cells. But it can also be caused by smoking, alcohol, or overcooked meat. And even if you live healthy, there is still harm. It is created by processes in the cells themselves. For example, by substances emitted during energy management.

Fortunately, these damages are largely repaired by the body. We have different DNA repair systems for that. Each has its own experience. In one, researchers have now discovered that a protein that plays a crucial role has long been overlooked.

In this audio you can hear researcher Jurgen Marteijn from Erasmus MC and the Oncode Institute. Read more about the research here: The protein plays a previously unknown role in DNA damage repair†