Introduction — On the Rationale of this Conference

Abstract

Historically, radiation biology has one of its roots in the practical problems of radiation protection and radiation therapy, although it was realized at early stages that radiation action on cells poses intriguing fundamental questions. Their solution requires the cooperation of physicists and biologists. The target theory of radiation action as developed by Dessauer, Crowther, Lea, and Zimmer constitutes one of the still fascinating examples of a theoretical attempt to link physical and biologic aspects. It was learned at later stages that radiation is an effective tool for probing the biologic object. The action spectra for mutation induction and cell killing indicated the involvement of nucleic acids, quite some time before molecular biology proved their importance by different means. The more recent discoveries of the cell’s capability to repair damage in the genetic material, which are of utmost importance in the understanding of living structures, are almost exclusively due to radiation biology.