What part of the body do you think would be affected by an overexposure do to x-rays?

Question

What part of the body do you think would be affected by an overexposure do to x-rays?

Answer 1

The reproductive organs.

Answer 2

The x-rays would have the potential to damage DNA in any body cells causing mutations. The most significant mutations would be in the s*x cells produced in the testes and ovaries since these could be passed on to the offspring at fertilisation.

Answer 3

Irradiation is most damaging to dividing cells. X-rays causes DNA damage that stall or prevent DNA replication. If the damage is bad enough the cell won't be able to go through DNA replication at all, often with the cell to dying as the end result. And even if the damage is not that great to begin with, prolonged irradiation will cause a build up of damage in dividing cells that eventually causes cell death. This is the reason irradiation works as a cancer treatment. Cancer cells are fast dividing and strong doses of irradiation causes a build up of mutations that kills the cells. Non-dividing cells are affected too, but you won't notice the damage until they start dividing again.

So all our body parts made up of fast dividing cells would be the ones most affected. These includes the hair cells (not really a body part I guess), the lining of the intestines, blood cells and skin cells to name a few. But most cells in our body is outside the cell cycle and only divide rarely or not at all, which is a good thing. Otherwise irradiation and most other forms of cancer treatments would kill us instead of cure us.

Answer 4

any part can be affected                      badly if in contact with without having heavy lead on it