Radiation Biology

[mikeg@SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Michael P. Grissom)]

1.  Just a bit of a gripe.  The development of Health Physics 
in recent years has tended to concentrate on the "physics" (at 
the experience of the "health"-->which is predicated on an 
adequate knowledge of radiation biology!) with relatively less
concern about the "health" element.  This is shown on
examinations in health physics where "radiation biology"
is actually nothing more than a series of mathematical models
for in vivo kinetics (radionuclides) or radiation effects
(relative risk model, e.g.) on populations.

2.  I think radiation biology has become, strangely, something
of a lost art.  There really is more to it than putting cell or
tissue culture flasks under a radiotherapy beam to confirm
how many monitor units are being delivered or to exercise
chromosome analysis labs!

3.  This situation was driven home to me at a visit to a
major DOE laboratory that had been the site of a large number
of large animal radiobiological research projects in the past.  
The head of the section responsible for radiobiological 
research at the time (about a year ago) noted that there 
really was no further need for that kind of research!  When 
I asked that question of an experienced radiobiology 
researcher at LBL (who worked with the Donner laboratory 
program for many years), her opinion was that there were vast 
unexplored opportunities in this field!

4.  Since making good radiation protection decisions is
(theoretically) based on a solid foundation (i.e., knowledge 
of biological effects), it would seem that health physics 
hasn't improved in technical rigor (other than the definite 
gains in the level of detail of radiation transport codes) a 
great deal (or at least as much as it should have) for a 
number of years now!  I agree with the long statements by Jim
M. and others that a lot of good work was done in the past (an
amazing large part of which was never published); however, there
are many new techniques that would increase the power of new
investigations today (and reduce the number of animals involved
without an undue loss of statistical power-->computer modeling
DOES NOT WORK for radbio, yet...).  So much for today's gripe!  
(This is, of course, my opinion only, not Stanford's or DOE's.)
     Michael P. Grissom                                                   
     Asst Dir (ESH) for Env/RadProt/WasteMan            
     Stanford Linear Accelerator Center                         
     MS-84
     2575 Sand Hill Road
     Menlo Park, CA 94025
     Phone:  415-926-2346
     Fax:       415-926-3030
     MIKEG@SLAC.STANFORD.EDU