Radiation Damage – A new understanding at Molecular level

Z

ZealoT

First time out of the vault
Hi, long time no write…

I’m a Biomedical Engineer student and tomorrow noon I’m attending a seminar about:
"Radiation Damage – A new understanding at Molecular level” directed by Prof. Nigel Mason, from “Centre for Molecular and Optical Sciences, The Open University, United Kingdom”. I will post the most important stuff and conclusions tomorrow but if any of you have any question for the Professor I could ask them and also post the reply. Tomorrow morning, before leaving home, I will check the replies that exist at that moment and write down the ACEPTABLE questions. Fell free to ask anything related to the subject and on the REALITY PLANE, don’t ask if “there are any drugs that you could take to avoid radiation”. Of course even if that’s the only question I would never ask it and you were just making me waste my time, so please don’t full this post with replies with no purpose, you will only difficult my task of retrieving the actual good questions at 7:30 am… I’m not sure if all can get answered or any at all. I’m not completely sure of the progress of the discussion but if I have the possibility I promise I will ask the most I can.

Here is a small resume given to us:
ABSTRACT

Cellular damage by irradiation remains a vibrant and developing area of research. However only recently has it been possible to study and to quantify radiation damage at the level of individual DNA chains. Recent research suggests that the major mechanisms of DNA damage are free radical chemistry and low energy secondary electron interactions with the constituent molecules of the DNA chain. The latter will be the subject of this talk, in particular the mechanisms for electron induced damage will be discussed and how these may suggest that there is essentially no lower wavelength limit for inducing DNA damage. The consequences of this research for cellular repair and cancer development will be discussed.
 
Well, this being a Fallout site and all, how about asking about mutations (positive, negative, or just plain abnormal) that stem from extreme exposure to radiation, and whether these mutations will affect only the person, or his offsprings also.

I know this may sound stupid, but if radiation does affect the DNA, could it be possible for a person that gets cancer from extreme radiation poisoning to transfer those genes onto their future siblings (if it was possible to have kids after the exposure)?
 
Re: Radiation Damage – A new understanding at Molecular leve

ZealoT said:
...don’t ask if “there are any drugs that you could take to avoid radiation”. Of course even if that’s the only question I would never ask it and you were just making me waste my time...
Click to expand...
Hold on a sec. Do you mean 'don't bother asking about radiation-proofing drugs, because they do not and cannot exist'?

I could have sworn I saw a news feature a while back where the Royal Navy were dishing out drugs to the local population in the area near a nuclear submarine base for use in the event of a disaster. Some sort of compound containing iodine, I think. Not exactly packets of Rad-X, but I'm sure there are measures you can take.

Hmm...
 
Yeah, but it's not exactly an uber anti-rad drug. As I remember it, it protects the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine.

That ain't gonna save nobody
 
Kharn said:
Yeah, but it's not exactly an uber anti-rad drug. As I remember it, it protects the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine.

That ain't gonna save nobody
Click to expand...

It most definitely would. Thyroid cancer is one of the biggest problems (as a results of nuclear radiation) in places like the Southwest US deserts, where nuclear testing was very prevalent. I imagine the potassium iodide would have helped them.
 
King of Creation said:
It most definitely would. Thyroid cancer is one of the biggest problems in places like the Southwest US, where nuclear testing was very prevalent. I imagine the potassium iodide would have helped them.
Click to expand...

Mebbe, but in the case of real big-ass nuclear Fallout preventing thyroid cancer doesn't save you from the cancer growth inside the rest of your body.

Good point, tho'
 
Will the mechanics of cellular repair (I assume by low wavelength radiation, since that seems to be the focus of this talk) change in different tissue samples? I would be interested to learn about the proposed mechanics, practical application of this data, if anyone has speculated into that.
 
Potassium Iodide will not save your cells from massive damage if you are near a blast. Once you lose a major amount of cells throughout your body, it's a big downhill slide.

Obviously when given an initial dose of rays from a blast there will be damage. Is there additional damage once you are not subject to more rays, assuming the initial damage was not major enough to kill you? Also what is the threat from lingering radiation as opposed to direct radiation on cell damage?
 
potassium iodide will keep radiation out of your thyroid. thyroid cancer has been the leading cause in death after radiation exposure. so by taking potassium iodide you reduce your risk of dying later on in life........
 
when affecting cellular life in the body, does radiation make the atomic/molecular bonds unstable or does it simply work like a poison disrupting the biofunctions of the cells.

also, out of curiosity, has the concept of counter radiation been in anyway explored out side of kemo (sic?). as in a reverse pattern feedback of some sort. like a reversed waveform? - that question is probably stupid, but i was just curious.


and finnally, for Ancient Oldie siblings are brothers and sisters. you can't pass annything to them except the ketsup.
 
I’m sorry but I will not be able to answer more questions now… Oh, and the formula to check if your mobile is safe (it is in the post that has the answers) is wrong, or not totally correct if you prefer. Because even if you reduce joules to volts you would get volts per electron and I’m not sure if it is measured up that way… Sorry.
 
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