The importance of radiation chemistry to radiation and free radical biology (The 2008 Silvanus Thompson Memorial Lecture)

Biological effects of radiation are manifest over timescales extending to years. However, many chemical events are complete in milliseconds; after this time, adding oxygen to irradiated hypoxic cells no longer enhances radiosensitivity. This does not mean that damage pathways cannot be modified; the potential gain from chemical modulation of early events is as large as any associated with later pathways, and the prognostic importance of...