The Molecular Theory of Radiation Biology

1. Quantitative Radiation Biology.- 1.1 Radiation in Society.- 1.2 Radiation Biology: the Interdisciplinary Discipline.- 1.3 The Importance of Cellular Biology.- 1.4 The Quantitative Analysis of Radiation Action: a Brief Historical Review.- 1.5 Desiderata for a Quantitative Theory of Radiation Biology.- 2. The DNA Molecule and Its Role in the Cell.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 The Structure and Dimensions of the DNA Molecule.- 2.3 Base Sequences and the Genetic Code.- 2.4 DNA Replication.- 2.5 DNA in Chromosomes.- 2.6 The Diploid Cell, Mitosis and Meiosis.- 2.7 Radiation-Induced Damage to DNA.- 3. The Molecular Model for Cell Survival Following Radiation.- 3.1 Historical Development.- 3.2 The Philosophical Framework of the Model.- 3.3 The Induction of DNA Double Strand Breaks by Radiation.- 3.4 The Relationship Between Cell Survival and DNA Double Strand Breaks.- 3.5 The Cell Survival Curve.- 3.6 Variation in the Survival Curve Through the Cell Cycle.- 3.7 Asynchronous Cell Populations.- 3.8 The Experimental Correlation Between Cell Survival and DNA Double Strand Breaks.- 3.9 Summary.- 4. Chromosomal Aberrations.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The Nature and Yield of Chromosomal Aberrations.- 4.3 The Classical and Exchange Theories of Radiation- Induced Chromosomal Aberrations.- 4.4 The Molecular Theory of Radiation-Induced Chromosomal Aberrations.- 4.5 Complex Chromosomal Rearrangements.- 4.6 Gene Transplantation.- 4.7 Summary.- 5. Somatic Mutations.- 5.1 Point and Chromosome Mutations.- 5.2 Some Molecular Mechanisms Which Could Give Rise to Mutations from DNA Double Strand Breaks.- 5.3 Mutation Frequency Dose Relationships.- 5.4 The Analysis of Experimental Data.- 5.5 Two Mutations in the Same Cell Population.- 5.6 The Mutation Spectrum.- 5.7 Summary.- 6. Correlations.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 The Survival-Survival Correlation.- 6.3 The Survival-Chromosomal Aberration Correlation.- 6.4 The Correlation Between Different Chromosomal Aberrations.- 6.5 The Correlation Between "Normal" Chromosomal Aberrations and "Complex" Chromosomal Aberrations.- 6.6 The Correlation Between Survival and Somatic Mutation.- 6.7 The Correlation Between Two Different Mutations Induced in the Same Cell Population.- 6.8 The Peak Incidence - an Implied Correlation.- 6.9 What Do the Correlations Mean?.- 7. Repair.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 The Repair of DNA Single Strand Breaks and the Dose Rate Effect.- 7.3 The Repair of DNA Single Strand Breaks and the Effect of Dose Fractionation.- 7.4 The Repair of DNA Double Strand Breaks and the Post-Irradiation Effect.- 7.5 The Difference Between Sub-lethal Damage Repair and Potentially Lethal Damage Repair.- 8. Radiation Quality.- 8.1 The Differing Shape of Dose-response Relationships.- 8.2 A Qualitative Assessment of the Dependence of the ?-Coefficient on Radiation Quality.- 8.3 A Qualitative Assessment of the Dependence of the ?-Coefficient on Radiation Quality.- 8.4 How Constant is the Value of RBEo?.- 8.5 The Size of the Target.- 8.6 A Calculation of the Dependence of the a- and ß- Coefficients on Radiation Quality.- 8.7 Summary.- 9. Cancer.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Somatic Mutation and Cancer.- 9.3 The Malignant Cell.- 9.4 Radiation-Induced Cell Transformation.- 9.5 Extrapolation to Animals and Man.- 9.6 Conclusion.- 10. Genetic Effects.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 The Induction of Dominant Lethal Mutations.- 10.3 Correlations Between Different Genetic End Points.- 10.4 The Induction of Translocations in the Spermatogonia of the Mouse.- 10.5 The Induction of Specific Locus Mutations in the Mouse.- 10.6 Conclusions.- 11. Synergistic Interaction.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Theoretical Development.- 11.3 Agent Toxicity.- 11.4 Agent Dosimetry.- 11.5 Experimental Examples of Synergism.- 11.6 General Discussion.- 12. Implications.- 12.1 Radiological Protection.- 12.2 The Chemical Hazard.- 12.3 Radiation Therapy.- 12.4 Plant Mutation Breeding.- 12.5 Postscript.- References.- List of Abbreviations.