Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
When liver, kidney, lung and heart DNA preparations of untreated Sprague-Dawley rats of different ages (3 days-10 months) were analyzed for the possible presence of covalent modifications by a 32P-postlabeling assay, characteristic tissue-specific patterns of 32P-labeled spots (termed I-spots) were observed on thin-layer chromatograms. Amounts of these DNA derivatives (termed I-compounds), which were not detected in newborn rat DNA, markedly increased with age. This novel type of DNA modification could be due to environmental (e.g. dietary) factors or to endogenous DNA-reactive metabolites and may conceivably play a role in the initiation of spontaneous cancers or other adverse health effects related to aging.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Randerath et al. (1986) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: