if our skin cells are constantly dying and being replaced by new ones, how can a bad sunburn turn into cancer YEARS down the line?

Question

if our skin cells are constantly dying and being replaced by new ones, how can a bad sunburn turn into cancer YEARS down the line?

In: 3306

Answer 1

Think of sunlight photons as shotgun pellets. Most of the human body is free space on an atomic level. But when a light photon traveling at the speed of light interacts with an atom that makes up part of the string of DNA it can alter the way that DNA reproduces all the cells afterwards. Some damage does nothing noticable. Other damage killed both my parents.