They measured serum thiol levels, which at best are a very indirect indicator of DNA repair.

FORBES: Chiropractic cures for your DNA?

Besides the genes that relate to protein synthesis it has others which encode DNA repair mechanisms and still others which are involved with protein recycling and signalling within cells.

ECONOMIST: A new, giant virus is confounding old certainties

The headline above should be good for a laugh, but believe it or not, chiropractors around the world are claiming that they can help your body repair its DNA. All of them cite the same 2005 article as evidence, so I read the article to find out what it was all about.

FORBES: Chiropractic cures for your DNA?

In the last couple of months alone, we've been told that alcohol damages the DNA of unborn children beyond repair, but that it's OK for pregnant women to have a couple of glasses of wine a week, which is pretty conflicting advice.

BBC: Alcohol limits advice 'confusing'

It also increases the DNA damage that chemotherapy does to cancer cells by preventing the enzymes that normally repair such damage.

BBC: 'Heat treatment' for breast cancer

Cells have ways to repair such mutations, but in this case, when the cell repairs the DNA, it is left unmethylated and the cell's memory of the gene's 'off' status is lost.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Poor cell memory is key to cancer