TY - JOUR
AU - Hollaender, Alexander
AB - The Present Status of Mitogenetic Radiation 1 Alexander Hollaender , Ph.D. 2 Madison, Wisconsin National Institute of Health, Washington, D. C. ↵ 2 Present address, National Institute of Health,, Washington, D. C. Excerpt THE discovery of mitogenetic radiation was first reported by Professor A. Gurwitsch, in 1923. There followed a slowly increasing number of publications on the problem which came to its highest level in 1932–1934, and is now followed by a decreasing number of publications. Little attention was paid to the problem in the early years of its reported discovery, but later it played a prominent part in many discussions on the causes of cell division, and as a possible tool for diagnostic purposes. It was also used as the explanation of many biologic phenomena, the interpretation of which seemed obscure. The wide application of the reported phenomenon to problems in biology which are often of the most involved type has detracted from the most important questions, viz. , is mitogenetic radiation a well established scientific phenomenon; can the existence of this radiation be proven by any investigator with proper training who uses the appropriate procedures? There is considerable doubt about these points in the minds of many research workers, in spite of the more than 700 articles and the dozen books on the subject. I will shortly review a few details of the characteristics of the radiation and the procedure in its detection and manipulation. Mitogenetic rays are reported to be ultra-violet radiation of the wave lengths from 1,900 to 2,600 Å., of an intensity of from ten to several thousand quanta/em. 2 / sec., and are said to be emitted by many biologic materials and by chemical reactions. This radiation is supposed to cause increased cell division in certain biologic materials, to initiate or to speed certain enzymatic reactions, and to cause the emission of so-called secondary radiations in many biologic materials which are themselves not able to emit primary radiation. Mitogenetic radiation is emitted in discrete wave length bands. The width of these bands has been determined to 3 Å. (Decker, 4)! The wave lengths are more or less typical for the chemical reactions taking place. A biologic process will give a spectrum which is composed of bands emitted by the chemical reactions responsible for the biologic process. This offers an apparently simple method of following the chemical processes in biologic materials in vivo without interfering with their normal functions (Hollaender, 6). Biologic and physical methods have been reported to be successful in the detection of mitogenetic rays. Most of the work is done with biologic material. The detectors in most common use are yeast and bacteria. With both organisms use is made of the fact that when a relatively old culture is transferred to a fresh medium, the cells do not begin to divide at once but go through an apparent rest period of several hours. The length of the rest period depends on the age of the culture, the nutrient, the temperature, and on other environmental factors.
TI - The Present Status of Mitogenetic Radiation
JF - Radiology
DO - 10.1148/32.4.404
DA - 1939-04-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/radiological-society-of-north-america-inc/the-present-status-of-mitogenetic-radiation-ohbbU0cXcO
SP - 404
VL - 32
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -