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Published online 30 September 2004 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news040927-18
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Secret of radiation-proof bugs proposed
Internal antioxidants may shield cells from radiation damage.
US researchers have come up with a novel theory for how a tiny, tough bacterium can survive doses of radiation 2,000 times those that would fry a person.
The unassuming red bacterium, called_ Deinococcus radiodurans_, was discovered around 50 years ago in a batch of irradiated meat.
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