BIOPHYSICAL STUDIES WITH SPATIALLY CORRELATED IONS .1. BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

According to the Theory of Dual Radiation Action most of the effects of ionizing radiation on cells of higher organisms are due to lesions that are produced as a result of combinations of pairs of sublesions. One principal question relates to the initial intracellular separation of sublesions over which these combinations can take place. The experimental method that has been devised to determine this dependence employs pairs of charged particles that traverse cells at varying mean separation. These pairs are produced by accelerating diatomic ions of hydrogen isotopes and causing them to impinge on thin foils where the electron is stripped off and the nuclei separate by multiple coulomb scattering. The emerging pairs of ions then traverse mammalian cells that are attached to the exit surface of the foils. This first paper of a series deals with the background and theoretical information and presents an overall view of the experimental approach.