The purpose of this paper was to conduct an extension to the review carried out by Stephens etal (2024) (which reviewed publications form 1988-2018). Here, studies published between 2018 and 2022 were investigated to examine radiation-related effects in the offspring of human individuals exposed to ionizing radiation. Similar to Stephens etal., (2024) the findings do not provide strong evidence supporting a significant association between adverse outcomes in unexposed children and parental preconception radiation exposure.  Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: A. Amrenova, C. Baudin, E. Ostroumova, J. Stephens, R. Anderson & D. Laurier (2024) Intergenerational effects of ionizing radiation: review of recent studies from human data (2018–2021), International Journal of Radiation Biology, DOI: 10.1080/09553002.2024.2309917. Link to full article.

To provide a synthesis of the published evidence pertaining to the intergenerational health effects of parental preconceptional exposure to ionizing radiation in humans. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Jade Stephens, Alexander J. Moorhouse, Kai Craenen, Ewald Schroeder, Fotios Drenos & Rhona Anderson (2024) A systematic review of human evidence for the intergenerational effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, International Journal of Radiation Biology, DOI: 10.1080/09553002.2024.2306328.  Link to full article.

This lay summary describes the aim of this part of the GCFT study to analyse veterans blood samples for chromosome aberrations using the technique of M-FISH. The amount (frequency) and type of chromosome aberration detected in a cohort of test veterans was compared to that seen in control veterans who were not present at nuclear test sites. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Lawrence, K. J., Scholze, M., Seixo, J., Daley, F., Al-Haddad, E., Craenen, K., Gillham, C., Rake, C., Peto, J and Rhona Anderson, R.M (l2024). M-FISH evaluation of chromosome aberrations to examine for historical exposure to ionising radiation due to participation at British nuclear test sites. Journal of Radiological Protection, volume 44 (1), 01150. Link to full article.

The purpose of this study was to explore how British nuclear test veterans, with varying health conditions, perceive their health and attribute causes to health conditions in themselves and in their family members, in the light of being an aged cohort and their previous involvement in nuclear weapons testing. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Collett, G., Martin, W., Young, W. R., & Anderson, R. M. (2022). “Is that a coincidence?”: Exploring health perceptions and the causal attributions of physical health conditions in British nuclear test veterans. SSM-Qualitative Research in Health, 100127. Link to full article.

The purpose of this study was to address the concerns as to whether veterans could have received sufficient radiation exposure to cause harm and, worry about potential (inherited) legacy in descendants of any historical radiation exposure. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Moorhouse et al (2022). No evidence of increased mutations in the germline of a group of British nuclear test veterans. Scientific Reports. 12, 10830. Link to full article.

The purpose of this study was to address a population of (potentially) radiation exposed individuals/veterans of the British nuclear testing programme. The question of an adverse genetic (inherited) legacy in descendants remains an ongoing concern for this aged population. The Genetic and Cytogenetic Family trio (GCFT) study was undertaken to, in part, address these concerns. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Christine Rake et al (2022). British nuclear test veteran family trios for the study of genetic risk. Journal of Radiological Protection 42(2), 021528. Link to full article.

Full article: I.Bastiani, S.J.McMahon, P.Turner,etal., Dose estimation after a mixed field exposure: Radium-223 and intensity modulated radiotherapy, Nuclear Medicine and Biology (2021), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2021.12.002. Link to full article.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of clinically relevant anxiety in British nuclear test veterans and aimed to explore experiences of worry and the broader psychological impact of the British nuclear weapons testing programme. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Collett, G., Young, W.R., Martin, W. and Anderson, R. (2021) 'Exposure Worry: The Psychological Impact of Perceived Ionizing Radiation Exposure in British Nuclear Test Veterans. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 12188. Link to full article.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether perceived radiation exposure - where the radiation dose is no higher than the background doses - can result in psychological stress, which could in turn lead to worse cognitive functioning. Click here to read the lay summary.

Full article: Collett, G., Kai, C., William, Y., Mary, G. and Anderson, R. (2020) 'The psychological consequences of (perceived) ionizing radiation exposure: a review on its role in radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction.' International Journal of Radiation Biology. pp. 1 - 56. ISSN: 0955-3002. Link to full article.

The Association for Radiation Research (ARR), on behalf of the International Association for Radiation Research (IARR), hosted the 16th International Congress of Radiation Research in Manchester, UK from 25th—29th August 2019. A total of 1008 delegates joined us for this 4-yearly premier radiation research event to share new research around the thematic areas of Basic Mechanisms, Translational Research, Radiotherapy and, Health Effects and Ecology. The meeting was a great success with quality presentations, in-depth workshops on defined topics and fun social events throughout. A key goal of the ARR and IARR is to promote careers of future radiation researchers and so it is of note that around a quarter of our attendees were 'scholars-in-training', all of whom contributed to the overall success of the programme as Session Chairs and with high quality presentations. The meeting venue 'Manchester Central' provided excellent facilities creating a relaxed environment for science-in-action; collaborative discussion with friends old and new. Outside, historic Manchester shone in the brilliant sunshine of an August heatwave proudly displaying itself as a modern, fun and vibrant city for all. In this Report, we focus on Theme 4 Health Effects and Ecology and, the satellite workshop International Symposium on Chromosomal Aberrations (ISCA).

Reference: Anderson, R., Williams, K., Jeggo, P., Hammond, E., West, C. and Badie, C. (2020) 'Meeting Report of the 16th International Congress of Radiation Research and the 12th International Symposium on Chromosomal Aberrations.' Journal of Radiological Protection, 40 (1). pp. 361 - 365. ISSN: 0952-4746. Link to full article.

The 16th International Congress of Radiation Research (ICRR2019) was held in Manchester, UK, in August 2019. The Congress, which is held every four years, covered a wide spectrum of topics relevant for all aspects of radiation research including basic mechanisms, translational research, radiotherapy and health effects, and ecology. Here, we provide a report of the plenary and keynote talks presented at the meeting.

Reference: Williams, KJ., Hammond, EM., West, C., Anderson, RM., Badie, C. and Jeggo, PA. (2019) 'Meeting Report on ICRR2019, the 16th International Congress on Radiation Research'. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 96 (2). pp. 167 - 171. ISSN: 0955-3002. Link to full article.

p53BP1 forms discrete foci within minutes of radiation exposure, at sites of DNA double-strand breaks, which ordinarily decay to background levels within 24 h of induction. Longer lived, persisting 53BP1 foci are thought to mark unrepaired or misrepaired damage and potentially, to be associated with genomic instability. It is known that repair of DNA damage is impaired in senescent (permanently arrested) and aged cells. We examined this further by measuring the induction and persistence of 53BP1 foci in proliferating and non-proliferating mid-passage (non-aged) and late-passage (in vitro aged) normal human bronchial epithelial cells. Our results showed background levels of 53BP1 foci to be elevated in in vitro aged cultures as expected and induction of 53BP1 foci after radiation exposure to be independent of culture age or proliferative status. In terms of 53BP1 decay, more cells with persisting foci were seen in in vitro aged cultures compared to non-aged populations; furthermore, this was observed in both non-cycling (nominally senescent) cells, as well as in actively proliferating cells. In conclusion, perturbation in radiation-induced damage processing is a function of increasing chronological cellular age per se and should be considered when extrapolating experimental data for radiation risk modeling.

Reference: Sabin, R., Pucci, G. and Anderson, RM. (2019) 'DNA damage processing is perturbed in both proliferative and non-proliferative cells of increased chronological cellular age.'. Radiation Research, 19 (2). pp. 200 - 207. ISSN: 0033-7587. Link to full article.

Biological monitoring of radiation exposure relies heavily on the quantification of chromosome aberrations such as dicentrics and reciprocal translocations in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of exposed and potentially exposed subjects. The differences in the spatial deposition of energy and the quality of damage initially induced between individual low- and high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation tracks are known to impact dramatically on the type and complexity of chromosome aberration induced. Over the years, researchers have proposed numerous cytogenetic markers and signatures based on these differences with the aim of biologically discriminating exposure to radiation of varying qualities. Complex chromosome aberrations are a broad classification of aberration types that are known to be characteristically induced after low doses of high-LET. The mechanistic basis for complex aberration formation and the potential applicability of these complex aberration products as LET-specific biomarkers are considered.

Reference: Anderson, RM. (2019) 'Cytogenetic biomarkers of radiation exposure'. Clinical Oncology, 31 (5). pp. 311 - 318. ISSN: 1433-2981. Link to full article.