Paunesku Tatjana, Haley Benjamin, Brooks Antone, Woloschak Gayle E
a Department of Radiation Oncology , Northwestern University , Chicago , IL , USA.
Int J Radiat Biol. 2017 Oct;93(10):1056-1063. doi: 10.1080/09553002.2017.1294773. Epub 2017 Mar 13.
Human beings encounter radiation in many different situations - from proximity to radioactive waste sites to participation in medical procedures using X-rays etc. Limits for radiation exposures are legally regulated; however, current radiation protection policy does not explicitly acknowledge that biological, cellular and molecular effects of low doses and low dose rates of radiation differ from effects induced by medium and high dose radiation exposures. Recent technical developments in biology and medicine, from single cell techniques to big data computational research, have enabled new approaches for study of biology of low doses of radiation. Results of the work done so far support the idea that low doses of radiation have effects that differ from those associated with high dose exposures; this work, however, is far from sufficient for the development of a new theoretical framework needed for the understanding of low dose radiation exposures.
Mechanistic understanding of radiation effects at low doses is necessary in order to develop better radiation protection policy.
人类在许多不同情况下会接触到辐射——从靠近放射性废物处理场到参与使用X射线等的医疗程序。辐射暴露的限值有法律规定；然而，当前的辐射防护政策并未明确承认低剂量和低剂量率辐射的生物、细胞和分子效应与中高剂量辐射暴露所诱导的效应有所不同。从单细胞技术到大数据计算研究，生物学和医学领域最近的技术发展为低剂量辐射生物学研究带来了新方法。迄今为止所做工作的结果支持这样一种观点，即低剂量辐射具有与高剂量暴露不同的效应；然而，这项工作对于建立理解低剂量辐射暴露所需的新理论框架而言还远远不够。
为了制定更好的辐射防护政策，有必要从机制上理解低剂量辐射效应。
