Normally, if environmental exposures cause an unwanted molecule to bind to a gene, excision
repair proteins rapidly remove that damaged area of the gene. Because the genes in the body that
produce these repair proteins can themselves have mutations, people can differ from one to
another in their gene repair activities. Unfortunately, genetic variations can make a person's gene
repair activities less efficient or more error-prone than normal, and this faulty condition can be
passed from generation to generation.
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