Purpose: This review, which arose from a Radiation Research Society History symposium, traces the history of ‘bystander effects’ or ‘indirect effects’(also known as ‘abscopal effects’, ‘clastogenic effects’ and more recently ‘the secretosome’). In 1905, Murphy first drew attention to effects caused by the injection of irradiated cells into animals. In the present day, bystander effects are seen as part of the secretosome, where they coordinate responses to stressors at the tissue, organism, and population level. The review considers the history and also the reasons why this process of information exchange/communication appears to have been discovered and forgotten several times. The review then considers the evolution of our understanding of the mechanisms and what relevance these effects may have in radiation protection and radiotherapy.Conclusions: The authors conclude that the phenomenon currently described as a ‘bystander effect’ has been described under a variety of different names since 1905...

History of bystander effects research 1905-present; what is in a name?

Low doses and non-targeted effects in environmental radiation protection; where are we now and where should we go?

Purpose: With the widespread use of computed tomography (CT), the risks of low-dose radiation from CT have been increasingly highlighted. This study aims to illustrate the CT-induced biological effects and analyze the potential beneficial or harmful outcomes so as to provide radiologists with reasonable advice on CT usage.Materials and methods: The related literature was analyzed according to the topics of stochastic effect, hereditary effect, deterministic effect, accumulative injuries, hormesis and adaptive response; population epidemiology data were also analyzed.Results: CT accounts for 9% of X-ray examinations and approximately 40–67% of medical-related radiation, the dose is within the range of low-dose radiation (LDR). Two opposite viewpoints exist nowadays regarding the biological effects of CT scanning: They are either harmful or harmless. Approximately 0.6% and 1.5% of the cumulative cancer risk could be attributed to diagnostic X-rays in the UK and Germany, respectively. The probability...

Biological effects of low-dose radiation from computed tomography scanning

This paper aims to stimulate discussion about the relevance for radiation protection of recent findings in low-dose radiobiology Issues are raised which suggest that low-dose effects are much more complex than has been previously assumed These include genomic instability, bystander effects, multiple stressor exposures and chronic exposures To date, these have been accepted as being relevant issues, but there is no clear way to integrate knowledge about these effects into the existing radiation protection framework A further issue which might actually lead to some fruitful approaches for human radiation protection is the need to develop a new framework for protecting non-human biota The brainstorming that is being applied to develop effective and practical ways to protect ecosystems widens the debate from the narrow focus of human protection which is currently about protecting humans from radiation-induced cancers

Uncomfortable issues in radiation protection posed by low-dose radiobiology

Use of synchrotron medical microbeam irradiation to investigate radiation-induced bystander and abscopal effects in vivo.

Adaptive response in frogs chronically exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation in the environment.

Microbial characterization of groundwater from boreholes CR9 and CR18 at CRL (2007-2009) --implications for a possible future repository for radioactive non-fuel waste

D. McMullin

Papers

Adaptive response in frogs chronically exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation in the environment.

Microbial characterization of groundwater from boreholes CR9 and CR18 at CRL (2007-2009) --implications for a possible future repository for radioactive non-fuel waste