Hundreds of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, and their children are planning to undergo genome analysis to determine whether exposure to the radiation from the 1945 blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki has impacted health further down the line, a research facility said recently.
The study by the Japan-U.S. joint organization Radiation Effects Research Foundation, located in the two Japanese cities, will look into the DNA of around 900 families.
The study is also expected to shed light on the effects on those caught up in nuclear reactor meltdowns or with occupational exposure to radiation, and their descendants.