Monthly Status and Progress Reports for September 1950 (Partial) (Sec. III, Biology and Medicine Only)

Page 1

JAONTHLY STATUS AND'PROGRESS REPORTS Authorized for Public Release ICATION CHANGED TO: ,__

Page 2

University of WasMngton School of Medicine - $9,288 Duke University School of Medicine - $12,042

Page 3

no, of projects p;moUnt Advisory Connittee f o r Biology and Medicine 1 -. The Addsory Committee for Biology and Medicihe held its tWeI.IfT-. third meeting at the AMI in Wmhington, D. C,, on September 8 'and 9, 1950. On Friday9 Septeniber 8, a visit was made t o the AM: Project at the a,S , Department of Agricrrlture in Beltsvllle, Marylsd, for thepurpose of viewing methods ard mes for radioisotopes In problerms relating to soil ad fertilizers, held of the over-all research program f o r the Division of Biologg'md . of the research progrm and that within O'JT prog??am universal emphasis be placedi on the acquisition of fimhnentel lmowleiige. 31connection with the review of the budget, a full d.iscUSSiOn Was It was the sense of' the Committee t h a t there be no curtailment Lannon, of the Divlsion of F i m c e , reported on their visit to the Atomic available t o the Commission and to the Division of Medical Sciences of the National Research Council. Copies are on file in the Di vlsi On of The Committee studied the problems e.masating from the discussions and nade specific recommendations a5 t o the research program which have been forwarded t o the Chairman of the m. 0 Radiationl damage 1%plants. The Phyboradiology group a t ArgoMe' National LabQratory was initiated as a project t o study the effects Of radiation on higher plants. One of the major controlling faCtOrs Of plant growth and development i s the growth hormones. nones are com~oflylmown as auxins, on the basis of t h e i r regulatory fmctioa of growth. fmction on growth, that is, irreversible increase in size or volume, is definitive e Actirg io minute conceztrations (physiological amouxlt bein@; saetimes as little as a nillio2th of a rnillionth ofa gram), they provide They possess other important propertied, b u t their

Page 4

t i o n s are gimilss in ,effect t o those caused by chasges in auxin level, the effect of such radiation on auxin and auxin econOmg becomes pe*inent t o research upon the mechanisms of radiation effects. r of the observed effects of high energy ra The auxin native to s the plant i s chiefly, if not wholly, the heterocyclic campound indoleacetic acid. Rational Laboratory have been studying the effect of ionizing radiation (1) on auxin i n in Vitro and i n vivo systems, (2) on the biosynthesis of auxin i n the living plant tissues; and (3) on physiologlcal processes Investigatora at fig one first order kinetics. Accmpanying orgdc campounds are able‘to pro- ’ t e c t auxin against inactivation by ionizing radiation. Such protective action W&EI shown %y ethanol, glucose, ascorbate, cysteine, glutathione, and citrate--all natural components of a plast. effect of ionizing radiation on auxin i n the living plant? Here we m u s t distin@sh between auxin and auxin formation, or biosynthesis. What, then, is the U s i n g kidney bean, cocklebur, and cabbage plants, free auxin levels were determined immediately after various s’ingle doses of Xdiate drop in free auxin levels, the absolute amounts of fYee auxins i n the tissue progressively decrease. &;ending on the plant material, it takes f r o m 50 t o 1,000 ionizaRadiation doses as lox as 25 t o 100 roentgens cause an immeA s the radiation dose is increased, tions produced i n the tissues t o inactivate one molecule of auxin when tion efficiency of one molecule per ionization when a pure aqueous solution of the hormone i s irradiated. i s readily protected in vitro by other oxidizable organic molecules. When we consider the tremendous exce6s of molecules i n the c e l l which could compete Kith indoleacetic acid for the radiation-induced oxidizing groups, the efficiency of free auxin inactivation is surprisingly high. This isin contrast t o the initial: inactivalWe have seen that indoleacetic acid Continued production of aUXin i s likewise inhibited by low radiation doses from 25 t o 10,000 roentgens, their auxin levels being followed by periodic sampling after irradiation. i n the kidney bean by as little as 25 roentgens, with progressively stronger inhibition by higher doses. thesis after irradiation i s attained in from several days to2 weeks, depending on the dose. depressed biosynthesis, with no recovery. Auxin formation i s inhibited Recovery t o control levels of synDoses of 10,000 roentgens result in increasingly The effectiver;ess of l o w doses of ionizing radiation can be

Page 5

interpreted as due t o its actian uponmolecules which affect mult5.7 of ionizing radiation dlrectly on the system involved i n growth hormone synthesis. Exposure of the plant t o radiation doses caused decreasedgrowth and decreased auxin concqltration. The effect of the low radiation doses can be reversed by applying synthetic growth hormone t o the plant following irradiation. The effect of higher radiation doses cannot be reversed, implying that a more profound biochemical in3ury has taken place such.as on the enzymes. Morphologick changes due t o irradtation can likewise be shown t o be due, in pqt,to radiation sensitivity of the hormone system. Plant workers are familiar with the phenomenon of apical dd nance. terminal groxing point, or bud, suppresses the growth of lateralbuds. When the terminal meristem i s cut off, or severely injured, the lateral buds immed5stely leave t h e i r "dormant" fitate and begin growing. This process was shown a n-er of yeass ago t o be specifically controlled by the auxin produced by the terminal bud. removed and auxln alone is applikd t o the stump, the laterals stay suppressed as long as the auxin ~ o u r c eis allowed 'to remain. applied source i s in turn removed, normal growth of the laterals is Thus9 when the stem tipis Terminal growing points of the cocklebur were irradiated with single lox'doses of X-irradiation, the remainder of .the plant being shielded Kith lead. 100 percent in size within 2 days.' When auxin was applied t o the t i p s immeUiately after irradiation, lateral buds stayed suppressed. We can therefore conclude that these apical dominance responses t o irradiation are chiefly, if not wholly, due t o radiation sensitivity of the auxin Lateral bud growth'ensued, the buds increasing over When growth hormone'is present i n tissues, it i s relatively insensitive t o ionizing radiation. - Aux in itself in plant tissue does not appear t o be unduly radiosensitive. tion i s relatively sensitive t o radiation, and provides m explanation, i n part, for ch wes in growth and development of higher plants exposed t o relatively intense, low doses of ionizing radiation. However, t h e process of auxin formaRed Cross research contract (Harvard) on separation of white blood cells and platelets. above AEC-supported contract have devised means of separating white blood cells from other blood constituezts. viable for approximstely 2 weeks, whereas white cells handled by ordinary methocis a r e destroyed ahnost immediately. Within the past month investigators working on the The separated white cells remain This deyelopment marks 8real

Page 6

! milestone of progress since the separat investigators t o ' obtaip supplies 09 wbi Progress has also been made towad the separation of viable blood , Platelets are necessary t o control the hemorrhagic stagesplatelets, of acute radiation injury, leukemia, and other disease conditions, Tnterim approval has'been granted t o plans for the retuna of radioactive wastes by off-site users in the Berkeley Area t o the RadiaItion Laboratory, f o r disposal at sea. must be encased i n concrete in steel drums, according t o definite specifications, asd shipped t o the Radiation Laboratory for this service. A somewhat similar plan permits the return of wastes, properly packed, to plans will furnish needed experience and cost data on which t o base a sound over-all waste disposal policy. It is specified that the wastes f o r burial there. It is expected that operation of-these 4x0 Representatives from AM: emergency monitoring teams were informed of the amounts of penetrating radiation t o which team members maybe subjected i n an emergency. As a framework for the officiallype?Xhsible emergency dose values, it was pointed out that a true emergency dose K i l l necessarily be a function of the degree of the emergency, but that doses of 50-100 roentgens will subject the recipient t o possible injury, that it would very likely shorten his l i f e span, and especially that 1% greatly depletes his "reserve" which enables him t o withstand radiation which he would receive f r o m nature, from atomic energy operations, and fr& X-rays i n diagnosis or therapy. On the basis of these conaiderationc, the officially permissible emergency dose has been set at 10 roentgens f o r members of AM: teams, whose members would normally receive some exposure in the course of their daily work, and 25roentgem, f o r members of Civil Defense monitoring teams. .- Discussions have been held with interested staff members regarding the health physics orgasization t o be set up at the new sib. 1% i s expected that the contractor will administer the technical phase6 Of 'the organization i n contrast t o the Arc0 plan which will operate site and personnel monitoring through central AB2 faci'lities. One problem i s the trEininq of personnel which must be carried out i n one of the present AEC installations A conference was held a t the University o f Rochester for the purpose of crystallizing a program of research on plutonium and radon inhalation, as a complement t o the work on injected radioactive subst ices which has been set up a t the University of' Utah. . The Rochester program will get under way as soon as quarters can be provided through laboratory remodeling and construction, plans f o r which have been

Page 7

politan areas. The Chicago exercise was attended 'by four state governors, some 20' ,state c i v i l def ense directors or their representatives, and representatives of approximately 150 local c i v i l defense organizations. Foreign visitors were present from Great Britain ana Canada. Emergency Radiation Monitoring Program, A meetiag was held in Washington on Septerriber 22 of representatives of the: five Operations .Offices responsible for operation of this program in their respective areas, Agreements were reached as t o allocation of territory f o r each area, policy for contacts wlth local go w mental agencies, standardization of radio comunications equipment, permissible lbdts for food ana water contamination, emergency personnel permissible doses, loan of instruments t o state or city organizations for training pukposes, and . several questions of administration of the program such as budgeting, procurement, contract ar+ramgements, identification cards for team memThe Civil Defense Office of NSB 5s t o be.asked t o inform the states of the es-kablishment of the manitoring teams, clearly Stating the limitations and responsibilities of the teams. month a prOpO6ed certification for recognition of successfhl completion of the various radiological monitoring courses gives by the AM: in collaboration with the NSRB was worked out with the cooperation of the Division of Organization and Personnel and submitted t o NSRB f o r conDistribution of information. Copies of the NSRB publication "United States C i v i l Defense" were furnished each Operations Office and, through the area coordinators, t o the emergency radiation monitoring Each center which gave the radiological monitor training course w a s provided with copies of the "Effects of Atomic Weapons" for forwarding t o their students. Radiation Instruments Branch W Chemical Center, Edgewood, Maryland. "he problems concerning liquid, a- crystal, self-developing photmetric, and other types of dosimeters Were A conference on The Chemistry and physics of Radiation Dosimetry, sponsored jointly by the Department of Defense and the Atomic % e r a Cammission, was held on Sept der 18, 19, and 20, 1950, a t the Army discussed ina closed session on the third dzy. The current Department of Defense program i n dosimetry was