Radiations: Bad.. Or Maybe Good?

Article Found:
Author: Stephen Ornes
November 29, 2012 
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/11/healthier-mice-through-x-rays/ 

   If Life were a video game, vitamins would be considered the "good" guys while radiations the enemies. Scientists experimenting on variable yellow agouti mice (mice containing DNA problems from birth making them more vulnerable to diseases), found that low dose of radiation actually improved the health of these laboratory mice.
 Radiations are "the transmissions of energy"-from website, for example x-rays or microwaves. As the article states, '“Nobody wants to think that low-dose radiation could be advantageous and the stuff you put in your vitamin pill would be bad,” said Randy Jirtle of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This is why Jirtle, who led the new study, was initially not excited about his new findings.'
Large doses of radiations lead to cancer due to the disturbance of cells. When scientists first began this experiment, they were expecting  low dose of radiation to cause small problems if no, but it runs out that low dose of radiation is better for health than having no radiation at all.

"The scientists suspect that the X-rays caused a change to the DNA that blocked the genetic condition that makes the pups sickly. That change was probably a type called epigenetic. In such changes, a molecule attaches to a gene, a sequence of DNA that contains instructions for building proteins. This attachment can alter the gene activity — in some instances stopping the gene from doing anything. Especially interesting, when Jirtle’s group gave vitamins to the mother mice, that molecule didn’t attach to the gene and turn it off in their offspring. Those baby mice, born with yellowish coats, did not have the epigenetic alteration."
However this positive change in health only happened to the mice born with harmful genes.
I think this is a good start to find a new cure and it shows that we,humans, don't yet know about all that is out there waiting for us to discover. Who would think something harmful could turn out to do good? I found this article interesting for a few reasons: it explained everything and gave us definitions, it was about something new and special and most of all it could be the beginning of a miracle.