Enhancement of radiation effect on cancer cells by gold-pHLIP.

Previous research has shown that gold nanoparticles can increase the effectiveness of radiation on cancer cells. Improved radiation effectiveness would allow lower radiation doses given to patients, reducing adverse effects; alternatively, it would provide more cancer killing at current radiation doses. Damage from radiation and gold nanoparticles depends in part on the Auger effect, which is very localized; thus, it is important to place the gold nanoparticles on or in the cancer cells.

Drosophila melanogaster show a threshold effect in response to radiation.

We investigate the biological effects of radiation using adult Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, focusing on gene expression and lifespan analysis to determine the effect of different radiation doses. Our results support a threshold effect in response to radiation: no effect on lifespan and no permanent effect on gene expression is seen at incident radiation levels below 100 J/kg. We also find that it is more appropriate to compare radiation effects in flies using the absorbed energy rather than incident radiation levels.