few decades past particularly promising the advances being made in the biological sciences through the application of the a top elements made of radioactive artificially in the nuclear reactor i frequently use the sources of such radiation in the metal cylinder coming out of this nuclear reactor is one of these elements which has been bombarded and now contains a radioactive isotope such a radioactive isotopes are among the newest tools to be applied to problems in biological research sometimes the scientist wishes to observe the effects of the radiation themselves alpha particles they to particles gamma rays and neutrons are some of the most familiar kinds of radiation gamma rays are particularly useful in the study of living things gamma rays like other kinds of radioactive energy living cells if the effect is serious enough the entire organism becomes ill and is stunted or dies like the plants nearest the source of gamma rays and then a thing from radio cobalt located inside this most radiation experiments like the one going on here do not destroy the living thing being tested for example geneticists apply gamma rays to living cells to discover the effects of radiation on growth and i read it in one kind of experiment celled forms of life where you hear a one celled form of life is reproducing by simple division some forms multiply by a sexual reproduction does radiation of the rate generation to the next experiment using radioactive elements being applied to larger forms of life as well as the single celled forms of life here corn plants are the subjects of experimental work gamma rays released by the radioisotope cobalt located within the hollow are affecting cells of the corn polymer experiments are also conducted in special indoor  rooms like this one where they can be controlled even more closely than is possible in the field the plants and this growth came for being subjected to gala rays released from a radioactive element inside the lead container the terry characteristics the genes are represented here as bead like bodies attached together in chains every living thing inherited characteristics from the genes of the parent cells that have gone before passes on similar characteristics to its descendants atlantic radiation interferes with the normal process by breaking apart the chromosomes which carry the inheritance genes in this way radiation affects inheritance chromosomes like these from corn large enough to see under the microscope here there are some detached fragments of chromosomes particularly at the upper right proving that the atomic bomb undergone has caused some of them to break apart the exact results of such changes and future generations can be discovered through growth experiments the results may be beneficial already a strain of corn that is especially resistant to fungus disease has been produced through irradiation studies in which radiations have affected the parent plant sales scientists use radio isotopes in another entirely different kind of experiment the trends are study in this guy and they try to avoid any effects of the radiation themselves for example in this experiment plants called algae being given radioactive carbon dioxide in order to study the food making process carried on by their cells here is another research project in which radioactive carbon dioxide is used the plants in this special green atmosphere rich in radioactive carbon dioxide radioactive carbon dioxide is piped into the greenhouse one objective is to produce quantities of radioactive plant products such as drugs which can be used in experiments that may lead to improved techniques of diagnosing and treating some human diseases animals as well as plants may be the subjects of research using atomic radiation studies in nutrition often  end on the use of rights here the experimenter uses a rat that has been fed radioactive table sugar the experimenter places the rat in a special container where all of its waste products can be collected for typical experiment blood is taken from a rat previously injected with radioactive iron the blood will be tested for radioactivity to find how much of the radio iron is still present to do this the iron is removed from the blood sample and electro plated onto a small metal ring called a plant shit the amount of radio iron that electro plates out on the planet can be exactly determined by using radiation  based on such experiments the dosages and needs of using radio iron for treating disease may be perfected much of the research in biology is done in the hope of contributing to the welfare  this is particularly true in the study of diseases like cancer learning to control a disease that there is in part upon understanding the processes by which the disease develops in cancer animal experimentation is especially helpful experiments or plans to study how cancer develops to do this cancer may artificially be induced in animals through excessive exposure to radioactivity here beach containing a radioactive isotope are strapped to the rats body the radiations released cause the rat to develop cancer other experiments have devised to study techniques of treating cancer one technique employed the cycl treatment depends upon focusing a narrow pencil like stream of different particles on the tumour from time to time the rat is turned so the tumor is affected from different directions the tumor receives a much larger amount of radiation than any of the surrounding tissue in this way the effect of radiation is going to be beneficial to the organism of the experiments of this type seem promising but such treatments are not applied to humans until a had been thoroughly tested on animals radio biologists use sources of radioactivity for internal human use as well as extra use here a liquid containing a radioactive isotope is being prepared for human  atomic radiation improperly used may be extremely dangerous much research has been done to discover the most effective protective measures physical scientists biologists are learning how best to protect humans from danger the future applications of atomic radiation can scarcely be a match but progress is being made and research is leading the way and in this research the biological sciences continue to take their place in the