DNA Strand Scission

DNA strand scission refers to the cleavage or breaking of the phosphodiester backbone of DNA, resulting in single-strand breaks (SSBs) or double-strand breaks (DSBs). This process can be induced by various chemical, enzymatic, and physical agents and is a critical event in both cellular damage responses and biotechnological applications. It plays a fundamental role in genetic recombination, repair processes, apoptosis, mutagenesis, and cytotoxicity, and is also exploited in genome editing and molecular cloning. Induction mechanisms include oxidative damage by reactive oxygen species, direct chemical reactions with DNA, metal complex-mediated cleavage, and enzymatic cleavage by endonucleases such as Cas9.

Other names

DNA breakageDNA cleavageDNA nicking

Directly breaking the phosphodiester bonds in the DNA backbone.