text: Oxidative DNA damage may block RNA polymerase II transcription and cause strand breaks.  An RNA templated transcription-associated recombination process has been described that can protect against DNA damage.  During the G1/G0 stages of the cell cycle, cells exhibit assembly of homologous recombination factors at double-strand breaks within actively transcribed regions.  It appears that transcription is coupled to repair of DNA double-strand breaks by RNA templated homologous recombination.  This repair process efficiently and accurately rejoins double-strand breaks in genes being actively transcribed by RNA polymerase II.