biological effects of radiation on the epigenome biological effects of radiation on the epigenome ionizing radiation can cause biological effects which are passed on to offspring through the epigenome. the effects of radiation on cells has been found to be dependent on the dosage of the radiation, the location of the cell in regards to tissue, and whether the cell is a somatic or germ line cell. generally, ionizing radiation appears to reduce methylation of dna in cells. ionizing radiation has been known to cause damage to cellular components such as proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. it has also been known to cause dna double-strand breaks. accumulation of dna double strand breaks can lead to cell cycle arrest in somatic cells and cause cell death. due to its ability to induce cell cycle arrest, ionizing radiation is used on abnormal growths in the human body such as cancer cells, in radiation therapy. most cancer cells are fully treated with some type of radiotherapy, however some cells such as stem cell cancer cells show a reoccurrence when treated by this type of therapy. radiation exposure in everyday life non-ionising radiations, electromagnetic fields (emf) such as radiofrequency (rf), or power frequency radiation have become very common in everyday life. all of these exist as low frequency radiation which can come from wireless cellular devices or through electrical appliances which induce extremely low frequency radiation (elf). exposure to these radioactive frequencies has shown negative affects on the fertility of men by impacting the dna of the sperm and deteriorating the testes as well as an increased risk of tumor formation in salivary glands. the international agency for research on cancer considers rf electromagnetic fields to be possibly carcinogenic to humans, however the evidence is limited. radiation and medical imaging