IAEA Research Sheds Light on How Exposure to Ionizing Radiation Affects Human Health

To address this challenge, the IAEA launched a coordinated research project (MEDBIODOSE) in 2017 to examine the role of biodosimetric markers and methods within radiation oncology, nuclear medicine and diagnostic and interventional radiology. Thirty-one institutions from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Philippines, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sudan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Viet Nam joined the project. Each team collected and analysed patients' biodosimetric data - biological measurements and observations used to estimate a person's radiation exposure. This included cytogenetic data (chromosomal aberrations) and molecular data (protein markers associated with damaged DNA and any changes in gene expression).