FOREWORD 



The Committee on Nuclear Science of the National Academy-Research 

 Council has given special attention to those phases of nuclear studies in which 

 two or more of the older, well-established disciplines of scientific investigation 

 have been drawn together. To accomplish this, the Committee has organized a 

 number of subcommittees to provide the wide range of competence needed to con- 

 sider and deal with these new and rapidly developing areas of science. This is 

 well exemplified in the work of its Subcommittee on Radiobiology, which has origi- 

 nated a series of conferences on the basic mechanisms of radiobiology where 

 physicists and chemists, as well as biologists, meet to exchange information and 

 to test hypotheses of biological actions in the light of the combined experience of 

 the group. This has resulted in free, informal and critical discussions of infor- 

 mation available from several specialized fields of scientific study. At the same 

 time, deficiencies in existing data have been revealed and suggestions developed 

 for obtaining the missing information. 



The organization of these conferences, arranged to encourage frank and 

 detailed discussion in an informal atmosphere, has been a task of some magni- 

 tude. A vital part of the conference is the publication of the proceedings, so that 

 all interested persons may have the benefit of these deliberations. It is obvious, 

 even to a layman in biology who may read these pages, that the vital essence of 

 the fundamental processes are being exposed in the reasonings and arguments 

 which have been recorded. In many instances, it is also apparent that a first 

 tentative approach is being made to the solution of a particular problem. There- 

 fore, it is essential to continued progress that conferences of this kind be en- 

 couraged to continue to aid in plotting a course through the myriad of complicat- 

 ed reactions which occur when radiation interacts with living tissues. 



The Subcommittee has thus far organized four conferences. The first was 

 a symposium on radiobiology held at Oberlin College, June 14-18, 1950. It con- 

 sisted ofa series offormal papers and formal discussions; these were published 

 in 1952 ("Symposium on Radiobiology", J.J. Nickson, Ed., John Wiley and Sons, 

 New York, 1952). The second was a highly informal conference held in Highland 

 Park, Illinois, May 31 - June 2, 1951, the proceedings of which were not pub- 

 lished. The third considered specifically the Physical and Chemical Aspects of 

 Basic Mechanisms in Radiobiology and has been published as publication No. 305 

 of the Academy-Research Council .Nuclear Science Series. The current confer- 

 ence considered the biochemical aspects of the subject, and again no attempt was 

 made to make the discussions comprehensive; but rather topics of current inter- 

 est were discussed and analyzed. 



The expenses of the conference covered by this report were borne jointly 

 by the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation and the Of- 

 fice of Naval Research. It is a pleasure to thank them for this support, not only 

 on behalf of the Subcommittee on Radiobiology, but also of all those who may re- 

 ceive inspiration from reading this publication. 



L.F. Curtiss, Chairman 

 Committee on Nuclear Science 



H.J. Curtis, Chairman 

 Conference Committee 



ill 



