Genetic consequences of nuclear war

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, genetic effects may appear trivial in comparison with the enormity of the catastrophic development in the survivors' health and the environment. Gross effects are immediately or subtly demonstrable on the basis of diverse war scenarios. On the other hand, in a great number of organisms, genetic effects of radiation have been shown to occur according to a no-threshold dose-effect curve, thus implying that effects may be found even in situations and population groups where other direct effects are small. The discussions on the effects of nuclear war have indicated that whatever sector of effects is focused on, closer examination has, in each case - be it treatment of casualties, effects on climate, or effects on world trade - led to a picture of possible and often probable catastrophic collapse