title: The track structures of ionizing particles and their application to radiation biophysics. II. Results for various organisms irradiated with protons, deuterons and alpha-particles.
abstract: Using knowledge of the track structure generated by ionizing particles together with details of the organisms being irradiated, the application of a new analytical method to two biophysical models to explain the inactivation of cells by radiation has been developed. It is shown that both models are equally successful in predicting experimental results and that good agreement is found with the data for single-strand phage, Bacillus subtilis spores, various strains of Escherichia coli, haploid and diploid yeast, and human diploid fibroblasts. The only significant discrepancy arose with T1-phage, for which a tentative explanation is offered. The differences in inherent radiosensitivity between organisms, after allowance is made for differences in target size, are attributed to differences in enzymatic repair systems and in the packing of the DNA.
authors.affiliation: AEA Technology, Harwell Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon, UK.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Briden
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Simmons
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D017123:Bacteriophage T7 / Q000528:radiation effects; D010584:Bacteriophage phi X 174 / Q000528:radiation effects; D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D003903:Deuterium; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000528:radiation effects; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D018499:Linear Energy Transfer; D011522:Protons; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D004247:DNA; D003903:Deuterium