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Posted on Mar 19, 2008, 9 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
The cascade of chemical reactions that occurs when a free radical reacts with another molecule in order to gain an electron. The molecule that loses an electron to the free radical then becomes a free radical, repeating the process until the energy of the free radical is spent, or the reaction is stopped by an antioxidant.
The cascade of chemical reactions that occurs when a free radical reacts with another molecule in order to gain an electron. The molecule that loses an electron to the free radical then becomes a free radical, repeating the process until the energy of the free radical is spent, or the reaction is stopped by an antioxidant. In biological systems, this cascade can damage important molecules like DNA
