Radiobiology Molecular

Radiobiology: a molecular approach to studying the effects of radiation on living organisms.

Introduction

Radiochemistry is a science that studies nuclear reactions that occur when living cells and tissues are irradiated with ionizing radiation. It is part of medical physics and radiation biology,

Molecular radiobiology is a scientific and technical branch of radiobiology that studies the interaction of ionizing radiation with biological objects at the level of molecules, biomembranes, enzymes, coenzymes, various nucleic acids, etc. Due to the complexity of molecular processes, physical, physicochemical, biochemical and biophysical research methods, as well as computer modeling using computer databases (models) of objects of Molecular radiobiologists.

As the title of the section suggests, the object of study is the interaction of radiation with living matter, its effect on the macromolecules of cells and other biological systems as a whole. At the same time, radiation molecules interact with numerous structures of the cellular biopolymer, forming a wide variety of ion-molecular solutions and products; all this affects the functioning of cells and the body. Molecular radiolysis is associated with atomic transformations - ionization, excitation, dissociation. Ionization energy of the order of 4-5 eV is typical for beta decay products. Since individual components of molecules have different efficiencies in the decomposition process, we can talk about the probability of a process within a molecule (ionic reaction) or about an atomic reaction - the absorption of radiation by a free atom or radical, an amorphous polymer.

The ionization energy of electrons during molecular radiolysis is much greater than E = 5 eV, it reaches values ​​from 8-9 to 30 eV, so the process is high-energy. Along with partial radiolysis of molecules, the final products after them can be radicals and free atoms. Excited molecules, whose lifetimes reach the order of several picoseconds, are reactive substances and allow intramolecular electron transfer in significant volumes, due to which they are able to conduct efficient atomic reactions through each other even at low energies. The excitation mechanism is a radiative redistribution of energy in the molecule, which is not accompanied by charge transfer and means that several electrons are excited by one quantum. A substance that has entered an excited state can relax back through a direct radiative transition along the same energy level if nothing interferes with it. The transition occurs unhindered until the spectrum of free orbitals on which the vibrational state allowed for the transition is located is exhausted and it is necessary to switch to another molecule. The last result of the adhesion effect is in the transition to an adjacent energy level. The effect leads

Radiobiology is the science that studies the effects of ionizing radiation on living organisms, especially biological cells. The molecular level is one of the levels of organization of biological systems, at which molecules and their interactions within a cell, as well as molecules between cells, are considered.

Molecular radiobiology is a branch of the study of the effects of radiation on living tissue at the molecular-cellular level. Areas of research include the use of various radiological techniques to study molecules and atoms in cells, and the effects of changes in the chemical composition of cells caused by radiation. The goal of molecular radiobiology is to understand the physiological mechanisms involved in cell damage due to exposure to ionizing radiation.

The key processes that are studied in molecular radiobiology are the cellular mechanisms responsible for the formation of radiation damage, radiostimulation and radiosensitivity of certain processes in cells. Molecular mechanisms of the influence of ionizing radiation may include stimulation of oxidation processes and the formation of free radicals, activation of enzymes and proteins, modification of nucleic acids, etc.