title: Some historical highlights and portents for the future of biomedical research on radium and the actinides.
abstract: Radiobiological research on the actinide elements has been a continuum since the first cryptic report by Hamilton at Berkeley, California, in February 1944. Yet certain landmarks in the work, certain people and certain organizations were responsible for the equivalent of quantum jumps in our concepts and understanding. This paper will review very briefly a few of these. Among them will be the realization of the biochemical and consequent biological differences between plutonium and radium, the first demonstration of carcinogenicity of the actinides, their behavior in bone, their relative toxicity, carcinogenesis after inhalation, the genesis of the "king-size" experiments to investigate their long-term effects, "hot particles" in lung, highlights of research with the transplutonics, and several others. To the extent possible, the review will consider not only the research findings, but their bearing on standard setting and the general operations in place at the time. Some of the past and current polemics will be touched upon.
mesh_terms: D008671:Actinoid Series Elements / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000528:radiation effects; D011831:Radiation Genetics; D011853:Radiobiology / Q000639:trends*; D011883:Radium / Q000633:toxicity; D012106:Research
chemical_list: D008671:Actinoid Series Elements; D011883:Radium