Evening star., 1949-02-02
Of Stars, Men and Atoms
Atomic Bomb Rudiutions'
Effect in Heredity Studied
Laboratory Set Up at Oak Ridge
To Test War and Industry Hazards
By Thomas X. Henry

~ HUb"NS ~ 41eWTv
1t may be thousand years before the full
effects on heredity of the atomic bomb radia-
tions sustained by survivors in Hiroshima and
Nagasaki are fully apparent.
BY that time these effects may be scattered
through good part of the human race They
are almost certain If they exist at ALL to be bad
1t is well established that gamma rays, the
super x-rays of atomic fssion, will affect the
genes, units of heredity in the germ plasm of
fruit flies whose generations last only few
days. 1t is quite likely that neutron radiations
have even greater effects
But the same fact is extremely difficult to
establish for the human race or any of the
higher mammals, because, generally speaking it
Will be necessary for two parents carrying the
same injured genes in their heredity to come
together before the effects are apparent in
offspring They certainly cannot be relied on
to appear in the next four or five generations.
Hazards Of Exposure
Yet the effects on heredity are one of the
great hazards of radiation exposure either in
war or industry. The Atomic Energy Commits
sion has set out to obtain at least tentative
answer as to what may be expected
At the Oak Ridge laboratory of the commits
sion colony of white mice has been established
which will be exposed to all sorts of nonfatal
dosages of radiation and the effects on thefr
progeny studied for so generations. This will
require about 10 years, but in that time the
biologists hope to get genetic picture which
would require at least thousand years Of
human life.
A mouse, of course is not man, but it is far
closer to a man than fruit fly. In general it
is believed, the effects on the heredity of these
little mammals will be about the same as on
1t1y,a I'M,
mote possibility that there will be good effects,
but most genetic mutations studied in animals
and plants have been for the worse
The changes may be difficult to detect. The
probability is that in any single animal only
one gene will be injured or its position
changed in chromosome. A mouse has thou
sands of genes, almost as many as man. and
the difference due to a single one Is likely
to be quite small.
Other test organisms being studied include
higher plants, molds and bacteria Mutations
in the latter are a constant source of danger
as they bring about more virulent forms Of
disease. This is even more true of the in
visible fllterable viruses. A number of coll
onies Of the latter, belonging to the bac-
teriophage group, are being studied under
various intensities OF radiation.
When the first atomic bomb was exploded
in New Mexico in 1945 herd of cattle was
accidentally exposed to its radiations. Now
biologists of the University of Tennessee, in
cooperation with the commission, are studying
the breeding records Of these cattle and their
offspring. They are being compared with
normal animals of the same breed
Also the Tennessee workers are preparing
to feed farm animals with radioactive ma
terials and to determine how that portion of
the radioactive food which is not excreted is
distributed through the body tissues and how
long It remains. The major object is to learn
whether milk and meat of such animals is
fit for human consumption. The meat will be
fed to rats through several generations and
changes in blood composition, tissue and bone
structure noted