ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the various biological effects of radiation expressed on the progeny of an exposed individual. Mutations may be classified as chromosome mutations, gene mutations, somatic mutations, and hereditary/genetic mutations. Mutations that take place naturally without human interference, mostly due to the complicated mechanism of gene replication, are referred to as spontaneous mutations. The genetic load can be avoided if there is no mutation. Mutation rate is defined as a measure of the rate at which various types of mutations occur over time. Genetic diseases are classified into three major categories: Mendelian diseases, chromosomal diseases, and multifactorial diseases. The goal of genetic risk estimation is to predict the additional risk of genetic diseases in the human population induced by ionizing radiation in addition to natural spontaneous mutations. There are three available methods of estimating radiation-induced genetic diseases: doubling dose method, direct method, and gene number method.
