Evidence for a New Biological Effect of Low-level Irradiations

Abstract

SummaryWhen a substrate S of a particular E(S)-enzyme is irradiated with very low doses (u.v.-light or x-rays in the range of 103–104 erg/mm2) and then tested in the corresponding enzymic reaction, dose-dependent oscillations in the activity of the E(S)-enzyme are recorded. The oscillatory behaviour of enzymic activity induced with substrates subjected to low-level irradiations proved to be a general effect. This effect could be transmitted from an irradiated substrate (S1) to another unirradiated substrate (S2) through an ‘intermolecular transfer’ of the radiation-sensitized reaction type.The oscillations induced in the activity of two different enzymes sharing the same ‘energized’ substrate are non-overlapping, resulting in a typical chemical ‘flip-flop’. An investigation of this type of ‘flip-flop’ in irradiated animals is also presented.