If H₂O₂ was a spark, the Hydroxyl Radical was a flamethrower.
). It was the spark she’d always feared. In a violent chemical snap known as the , H₂O₂ split apart. She didn’t just break; she transformed into something far more aggressive: the Hydroxyl Radical (•OH) .
Unstable and desperate for an electron to balance her broken soul, the Radical lunged at the nearest structure. She tore into the , the protective wall of the cell. She snatched an electron from a fatty acid tail, leaving it mangled. This wasn't a single hit; it triggered a Lipid Peroxidation chain reaction. One damaged lipid turned on its neighbor, and the wall began to liquefy.
