AW: AW: [ RadSafe ] Drug that may prevent radiation injury

Tue Jan 29 12:51:31 CST 2008

Mike,

thank you for that additional information.

1) I understood the "post-exposure delivery" question as implying that the NTHs should be administered post exposure.

2) If indeed they succeeded to contain the antioxidants within the tubes and managed to release them 'automatically' just in time - congratulations!

3) If the release mechanism is triggered by the presence of radicals - then of course they have to deal with the substantial concentration of radicals which arise continuously by normal cellular metabolism.

4) If successful, I am sure NASA will be interested in their findings too. They might help to manage the risk of acute radiation sickness from large and energetic solar particle events which long-term interplanetary missions outside the terrestrial magnetosphere are prone to. 

Best regards, Rainer

________________________________

Von: Michael McCarty [mailto:mccartmj at michigan.gov]
Gesendet: Di 29.01.2008 18:36
An: Facius, Rainer; radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: Re: AW: [ RadSafe ] Drug that may prevent radiation injury

Dr. Facius

After reading your comments I reread the article.  I remembered
something that I couldn't find in the text.  It was in the e-mail
directing me to the website:
-----------------------
Nano-sized "Trojan horses" get government funding
Using common food preservatives, Rice Univ. researchers have made a
carbon nanotube-based drug that sits in the body, waiting to scavenge
free radicals generated by acute radiation exposure. The drug, they say,
could be a life saver.
-----------------------

If the drug functions as the lead-in suggests it could be used
prophylactically for those at risk of acute exposure to ionizing
radiation, i.e. be prepositioned for immediate response.

Mike

Michael J. McCarty
Physicist, MDEQ Radiological Laboratory

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Waste and Hazardous Materials Division
Radiological Protection Section
Environmental Assessment Unit
815 Terminal Road
Lansing, MI  48906

phone:  517-335-8196
fax:  517-335-9551
e-mail:  mccartmj at michigan.gov  changing to:  mccartym1 at michigan.gov as
soon as DIT wipes my hard drive.  Possibly Feb. 14th.

>>> <Rainer.Facius at dlr.de> 01/29/08 10:28 AM >>>
1) DARPA is not known for funding bogus science.

2) The crux indeed is whether the antioxidant, radical scavenging
activity will help in a post-exposure scenario, i.e., when most or all
of the initial radicals are gone long ago.

Dr. Rainer Facius
German Aerospace Center
Institute of Aerospace Medicine
Linder Hoehe
51147 Koeln
GERMANY
Voice: +49 2203 601 3147 or 3150
FAX:   +49 2203 61970

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im
Auftrag von Michael McCarty
Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 15:10
An: radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: [ RadSafe ] Drug that may prevent radiation injury

For your enlightenment, entertainment, and any discussion that occur:

http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=10512

Feds fund study of drug that may prevent radiation injury Defense
department funds study of nanotube-based drug made at Rice