Abstract
IT has been shown previously1 that when radiation (for example, X-rays, a-particles, neutrons) is absorbed in aqueous solutions, an indirect chemical effect is produced due to the formation of free radicals and atoms: In general, this is followed by the recombination: and by interactions of these radicals with other acceptor substances (S, S1 S2) present, for example: This scheme of reactions must exist also in the aqueous systems of biological subjects. From the point of view of the older 'hit' theory2, reaction (3) corresponds to a single 'hit', while if, for example, one gets a successive change of the (starting) substrate (S) by 1,2 ' n interactions with, for example, OH radicals, which is equivalent to 1,2 n 'hits'. It can be shown that—under certain conditions—there is a complete formal analogy between the 'hit' theory, which is described by Poisson's formula, and the mathematical expression for the above system of equations (3, 3·1, 3·n).
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Weiss, Nature, 153, 748 (1944).
cf. Mayneord, Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 146, 867 (1934).
cf. Gray and Read, Brit. J. Radiol., 15, 72 (1942).
Lea. Proc. Camb. Phil Soc., 30, 80 (1934); Brit. J. Radiol., 16, 338 (1943).
cf. Bethe and Bacher, Rev. Mod. Phys., 8 (1936).
Bagge, Ann. Phys., 30, 72 (1937).
Glocker, Z. Phys., 77, 653 (1932).
Wykoff, J. Exp. Med., 51, 921 (1930); 52, 435, 769 (1930).
cf. Schrödinger, "What is Life?" (Cambridge, 1944).
Timoféeff-Ressovsky and Zimmer, Naturwiss., 26, 362 (1938).
cf. Hevesy, Rev. Mod. Phys., 17, 102 (1945).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WEISS, J. Biological Action of Radiations. Nature 157, 584 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157584a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157584a0
This article is cited by
-
Einwirkung ionisierender Strahlung auf Proteine in w��riger L�sung
Biophysik (1973)
-
Manganese Free Radicals in Cobalt-60 Gamma-irradiated Strawberries
Nature (1966)
-
Chromosome Breakage in Vicia faba by Ozone
Nature (1958)
-
Chemical Effects of Ionizing Radiations
Nature (1948)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.