Linear energy transfer (LET) effects on repair rate

Studies of the repair rates for cells exposed to charged particles of different LET provide important information on the kinds of kinetic processes that should be considered in detailed mathematical models. In a preliminary study with Chlamydomonas reinhardi, the authors tentatively concluded that the repair rate was the same for 13 keV/μm proton and 81 keV/μm 3He ion irradiation, thus suggesting that the same type of damage, repaired by the same process, was predominant in both cases. However, this conclusion was very tentative because of limited precision in the repair rate measurement. Two factors limited that precision: lack of temperature control and limited reliability of the accelerator ion source