Introduction to Radiation Biology

Radiation biology is the study of ionizing radiation and its effects on living biological systems, including both basic and clinical sciences. This introduction will provide brief explanations of these basic and clinical categories.

Radiation Biology as a Basic Science

As a basic science, radiation biology focuses on studying the atomic, molecular, and cellular interactions of ionizing radiation. Most often this study focuses on the interaction of radiation and DNA, which is believed to be the main cause of the effects of radiation.

Radiation Biology as a Clinical Science

While the basic scientific studies are useful in predicting, ultimately in medicine these predictions must be confirmed by experimental clinical studies. Thus the second part of radiation biology is clinical in nature, studying the effects of radiation on human subjects.