The effects of polyhydroxylated [C60] fullerene derivatives fullerols on DNA was studied, using the plasmid pXJ41-neo DNA as the experimental model. The cleaved DNA products were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. The results showed that fullerols could stimulate DNA cleavage in dose and irradiation dependent manners. 0.4mmol/L fullerols together with 1.5h exposure to a 500W tungsten halogen lamp at a distance of 20cm could convert most of plasmid DNA from the intact form into the nicked and linear forms. Scavengers of various reactive oxygen species (ROS) including sodium azide, mannitol and superoxide dismutase (SOD) could inhibit the photoinduced DNA cleavage of fullerols. These data presented for the first time the photoinduced biological activities of fullerols, and implied a possible use of these fullerene derivatives as the candidates for novel photosensitizers in the biomedical therapy.