Radiation Marks Chromosomes: Plutonium leaves genetic fingerprint
By Ben Harder
By examining specific types of long-lasting genetic rearrangements in blood cells, researchers have found a way to measure a person’s past exposure to plutonium radiation. Biophysicist David J. Brenner of Columbia University, who helped develop the new technique, says it could reveal health effects of radiation from radon and other sources.
Radiation comes in two broad classes. Densely ionizing radiation from plutonium and radon burrows microscopic tunnels through living tissues and knocks things out of kilter along these tracks. Sparsely ionizing radiation from gamma rays and X rays distributes its effects more diffusely, like the pattern from a shotgun rather than a rifle.