system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How does radiation poisoning actually kill people?
gpt
Radiation actively damages your DNA and other molecules in your cells. It can cause DNA mutations, strand breaks and whole chromosome breaks. Without an intact genome, the cell can't carry out all its functions and will either make a decision to undergo controlled cell death (apoptosis) or if the damage is too severe uncontrolled cell death (necrosis) may occur. Severe radiation poisoning causes an acute destruction of cells, whereas prolongued exposure to harmful levels of radiation makes you more susceptible to cancers due to the mutating nature of the radiation.