now used. Also, tests can be repeated at frequent intervals with a minimum of discomfort to the patients.

Role of Fatty Acids in Radiation Injury

Earlier experiments reported by the University of Southern California showed that low fat diets decrease resistance to X-irradiation injury in rats subjected to repeated sublethal doses of X-rays. The material responsible for this action was found to be largely in the essential fatty acids.

Tracer studies on the metabolic pathways of these essential acids are also in progress at the AEC project at the University of California (Los Angeles). Emphasis was placed on the role of arachidonic acid produced in animals, and linoleic acid derived from plant food. Animals deficient in the essential fatty acids are more susceptible to the effects of ionizing radiation. This probably is associated with the functions of these substances in growth promotion and wound healing. Feeding experiments with a high fat diet showed that these fatty acids appear to be required for certain metabolic reactions. The mechanisms of these reactions are being investigated using pure vitamins, fatty acids, and crude body lipids-neutral fats, waxes, etc.

Labeling Antibodies

The use of radioactive isotopes in treating human disease will be greatly broadened when further methods are developed for localizing these isotopes in the body tissues to be treated with radiation therapy. At the University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project, research is underway to develop methods of attaching radioactive elements to antibodies that will localize specifically in certain tissues and body organs. (Antibodies are substances in the blood, etc., that destroy or weaken bacteria.)

In experiments with rabbits, it was found that the animals could be induced to manufacture antibodies against certain tissues when injected with tissue fractions and organ extracts from other animals. By labeling with radioisotopes, antibodies were shown to localize very specifically in certain tissues or organs. For example, labeled anti-kidney antibodies were produced that localized in the kidney at a higher concentration than in any other organ.

It is hoped that continued research along this line will eventually lead to the production of antibodies against different human tumors, specific enough to carry therapeutically useful doses of radioactive isotopes direct to them. This technology has important applications also in brain tumor studies, such as are carried on at Brookhaven National Laboratory and several of the off-site installations.

Columbia River Survey

River areas lying within the vicinity of the Hanford Works Project of AEC are continually monitored for radioactivity to determine if any radiation effects from plant operations produce changes in life forms or the environment.

Crustacea (crayfish) and other small arthropods in the Columbia River are easily accessible for such studies, and a 14-month survey was made of their life activities to determine if radioactivity produced any changes in growth or productivity.

None of the levels of radioactivity reported in the areas downstream from the Hanford reactors indicated any injurious effects or changes on growth or productivity of these aquatic life forms. It was found that in the crayfish, as well as in the smaller arthropods, the levels of radioactivity measured in the young, rapidly growing forms were higher than those found in the adult specimens.

Ecological Surveys of Coral Reef Communities

Surveys are being made at the Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory of the effects of nuclear explosions on whole plant-animal populations and ecological systems in the Central Pacific island areas used in atomic test operations. The laboratory, recently established by the Commission, is located within the Eniwetok Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The atoll lies 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii and is made up of a circle of coral islands approximately 20 miles in diameter. Many of these islands are covered with tropical vegetation and possess coral reefs making an excellent experimental ground for biological field studies. Work completed in 1954 for the AEC under arrangements with Duke University and the University of Georgia provides interesting data on coral reef activities.

Coral reefs represent the ultimate in stable natural communities with a history of thousands of years of constant adjustment between organisms and environment. Effects of radiation on these reefs cannot be evaluated unless the structure and function under normal conditions are known. Thus, the initial work included experimental assaying methods in order to measure the "basal metabolism" and the overall trophic or "food-chain" structure of a coral reef community as a whole not affected by nuclear explosions. This was similar to assaying the metabolism of animals or humans under normal conditions. For example, it was found that a healthy Eniwetok reef had a production rate of about 74,000 pounds of glucose (a sugar) per acre per year. This exceeds man's best agricultural efforts in most parts of the world. The critical assay methods devised can be completed in a few weeks. The significant changes

in this measurable "basal community production rate" can readily be observed if important effects are produced.

These assays revealed that corals and the algae growing in the skeleton of the coral colony live together to their mutual advantage (symbiosis). Although observations of skeletal algae were made previously, this is the first study to determine quantitatively the amount of algae present in different species of corals. A very definite ratio between algal (plant) and coral (animal) tissue was found. The amount of plant tissue was greater than the amount of animal tissue per unit of surface area. This marked development of symbiosis between plant and animal components achieves excellent "conservation" and cyclic use and reuse of critical nutrients. This enables the coral reef to achieve a high rate of productivity in waters which in themselves have a very low fertility.

These results are significant in physiological applications to other plants and animals which man requires for food. They provide a fertile field for scientific study of nuclear radiation effects on the "metabolism" of highly integrated systems.

The biological assays will be extended for related research investigations carried on by the AEC. College or university biologists, and the Commission contractors interested in radiological data of this type are invited to participate, using the facilities of the Marine Biological Laboratory.

PANEL DISCUSSION ON RADIATION HEALTH PROBLEMS

The Commission organized a panel discussion on "The Impact of the Atomic Energy Industry on Community Health". Held under the sponsorship of the American Medical Association Council on Industrial Health on January 25-26, in Washington, D. C., the meeting was attended by about 250 representatives from industry.

The purpose of the discussion was to explore the health problems associated with the placement of a nuclear power reactor in a community. Papers were presented on the organization and function of the radiological protection and medical groups in reactor facilities as well as the control of hazards in normal operations. Part of the meeting was devoted to the types of possible reactor accidents and their potential effect on the plant and community. The conference marked the first public presentation of much of this material.

NEW RADIOISOTOPES PRICING POLICY

In April the Commission announced that it will make radioisotopes for all biomedical and agricultural research, and research in medical therapy and diagnosis available to domestic users at 20 percent of the AEC established price, effective July 1, 1955.

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Since 1948, the AEC has supported the distribution of radioisotopes used in cancer research and therapy. Initially, radioisotopes for use against cancer were made available without charge for production costs. Since 1952, a charge of 20 percent of the AEC established price has been made.

Under the new policy, reduced prices are extended for all biomedical and agricultural research. The discount will not be available for radioisotopes used for routine clinical treatment nor for radioisotopes in fixed sources. The program is being administered by the Commission under the Division of Biology and Medicine, Washington, D. C. Domestic users who are interested and fulfill the requirements may submit application for authorization to make discount purchases. Upon approval of the application, the Division will authorize the applicant to purchase radioisotopes at 20 percent of AEC established price. The investigator or institution receiving the discount must agree to publish the results of the research, or report the results. to the Commission.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES RADIATION PROJECT

The Commission will cooperate in a broad study on radiation effects recently undertaken by the National Academy of Sciences by providing information and consultation services. The Rockefeller Foundation made an initial grant for financial support of the project in its planning stages.

The project will consist of an appraisal of present knowledge on the effects of atomic radiations on living organisms. Extensive research work completed by the AEC will be available for the new study. The Academy will appoint a committee of eminent scientists and staff to deal with the project. From this study should come the necessary facts to clarify opinions in this important field of effects of radiation on human beings and their environments. Further, all the work in this general area may be reviewed to identify those areas needing increased effort. The study may evaluate the state of medical knowledge regarding therapy and protection; and the availability of information to scientists, physicians, and the general public.

AEC SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION TO PACIFIC

Scientists from the AEC, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and the Institute of Applied Fisheries, University of Washington, in April completed a 6-week survey of the Pacific to measure the amounts of radioactivity, natural or introduced, present in sea water and marine life. The expedition is an extension of the marine biological studies

carried on by the AEC and cooperating agencies for some years in the Marshall Islands area, and included major ocean currents of the Western Pacific not previously studied.

The expedition left the West Coast aboard the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney on February 26, 1955. It reached Tokyo on April 12, after traversing wide reaches of the Equatorial and North Equatorial currents, and of the Kuroshio current east of Japan.

Measurements of temperatures, current characteristics, salinity, and radioactivity were taken at various ocean depths. Specimens of marine life and plankton were collected and measured for radioactivity

amounts.

The investigators found that minute traces of radioactivity existed in proportions initially predicted by the oceanographers. The analyses showed widespread low-level activity of sea water throughout the Pacific, with the level dropping to zero only in approaching the West Coast of the United States. The activity level in edible portions of fish was about one percent of the recognized health standards.

It is expected that data collected during the expedition will clear up a number of presently obscure points in oceanography. For example, the presence of traces of radioactivity from atomic tests is being utilized in mapping the course and rate of flow of the north equatorial current. The AEC plans to survey these waters as long as it is possible to detect identifying activity. Valuable information concerning the depth of mixing of surface waters and the rate of turnover of deeper waters should also result from these studies.

Analyses of the preliminary data collected by the expedition are consistent with such findings as were made available to United States scientists by members of the Japanese cruise of the Shunkotsu Maru made in June 1954.

The Japanese scientists found that residual radioactivity from the tests conducted in the Marshall Islands in the spring of 1954 were still detectable in June of that year. Since that time, this residual radioactivity has greatly diminished in intensity as a result of mixing with large volumes of ocean water, and the known laws of radioactive decay. The fission product activity was found by the Taney expedition to be only about one-tenth of that due to naturally radioactive potassium in sea water.