INTRODUCTION 



In this \()liiiiie are published the papers and discussion of the Inter- 

 national Symposium on Primary and Initial Effects of Ionizing Radia- 

 tions on Living Cells — the effects that nndei-lie the biological effects 

 of radiation. The Symposium was held in Moscow in Octol)er 1960 

 and was organized by the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., under 

 the auspices of UNESCO, and co sponsored by IAEA. The President 

 of the Symposium and the organizer of the very interesting general 

 discussion was an oustanding Belgian scientist, Professor Z. M. Bacq, 

 who is a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. 



The symposium was of round table type. The scientists from different 

 countries, invited personally by the Academy of Sciences jointly with 

 the Department of Natural Sciences of UNESCO, are very well known 

 for their important achievements in the field of radiobiology at the 

 molecular, subcellular and cellular level. In the papers presented at 

 the symposium were given not only their latest results but also some 

 general points of view on the state of the problem as a whole. The 

 scientists discussed the most urgent and yet unsolved problems so, 

 besides the reports and discussions after each report, a certain period 

 of time was allotted to general discussion. 



Paying attention to this fact it was decided to shorten the pro- 

 lixities and repetitions in the publication of the Proceedhigs of the 

 Symposium and to publish not only the texts of the reports but also 

 the discussion referring to separate reports, as well as the whole of 

 the general discussion. In publishing the papers a number of comments, 

 that were not originally made (for lack of time), but were presented 

 by the participants in written form, are included in that general 

 discussion. This seemed expedient since the material supplemented 

 the interesting discussion. In order to make the discussion more wide 

 and lively not only the participants but also the guests at the Sym- 

 posium took part. 



The "round table" type of symposium has certain advantages. 

 It provides close contact and a free and easy conversation among the 

 limited numbers of participants. It goes without saying that, as well 

 as the official discussion, the unofficial discussion, during the intervals 

 and after the sessions were formally closed, much more often compared 

 with that of more crowded conferences. The res\ilts of such meetings 

 invisiblv, in, as it were, a "latent^" fashion, affected the points of view 



XI 



