Role of cytogenetic techniques in biological dosimetry of absorbed radiation

In most of the radiation accidents, physical dosimetric information is rarely available. Further, most of the accidental exposures are non-uniform involving either partial body or localized exposure to significant doses. In such situations, physical dosimetry does not provide reliable dose estimate. It has now been realized that biological dosimetric techniques can play an important role in the assessment of absorbed dose. In recent years, a number of biological indicators of radiation have been identified. These include the kinetics of onset and persistence of prodromal syndromes (radiation sickness), cytogenetic changes in peripheral blood lymphocytes, hematological changes, biochemical indicators, ESR spectroscopy of biological samples, induction of gene mutations in red blood cells, cytogenetic and physiological changes in skin and neurophysiological changes. In general, dosimetric information is derived by a combination of several different methods, as they have potential to serve as prognostic indicators. The role of cytogenetic techniques in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) as biological indicators of absorbed radiation is reviewed here