Ionizing Radiation Damage to DNA: Molecular Aspects

Abstract

During the week of January 16-20, 1990, about 300 scientists assembled at Granlibakken Ski Resort at Lake Tahoe, California, to participate in a symposium on DNA damage resulting from ionizing radiation as revealed by the latest molecular techniques. The meeting was cosponsored by the Radiation Research Society and the UCLA Symposia and was organized by Susan Wallace and Robert Painter. The organization of the meeting, the collection of participants, and the idyllic setting amidst the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains combined to create an atmosphere which was both relaxing and scientifically charged. Topics ranged from identification of radiation-induced DNA lesions and the mechanisms of their formation, to mechanisms of repair, to consequences of damage at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels. The meeting began with keynote speaker Richard Setlow (Brookhaven National Laboratory), who discussed radiation in the context of other environmental mutagens and carcinogens, most notably cigarette smoke and ultraviolet radiation. In his address, he reminded the participants that the best risk estimates for ionizing radiation are far from adequate, especially in the extrapolations from high to low doses and dose rates, and that we need improved methods to locate lesions in the genome and to relate them to cancer induction. In response to this charge, the participants demonstrated that the latest molecular genetic technologies are being used to investigate radiation damage to DNA and, combined with traditional radiobiology, are leading to new insights into carcinogenesis and other consequences of radiation expo-