Genetical Effects of Radiations from Products of Nuclear Explosions

Abstract

PROF. J. B. S. HALDANE'S letter¹ on the genetical effects of radiation resulting from nuclear explosions raises the question of the relative dose-rates to man and to Drosophila melanogaster arising from natural sources of ionizing radiations. It appears to have been generally assumed that the background dose-rates to the gonads of all species are identical, whereas they are likely to differ considerably. The gonads of the Drosophila, for example, are exposed to both environmental β- and γ-rays, but those in most mammals are screened entirely from external β-rays and partly even from γ-rays. In Haldane's argument, deductions about radiation effects in Drosophila appear to have been carried over to the human case without allowing for this difference.