Office of News and Publications
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Media Contact:
Toni Heinzl, 214-648-3404

July 27, 2005

UT Southwestern gets NASA grant to study human cells' response to
radiation

DALLAS -- A team of researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has
embarked on a four-year research mission funded by a $1.2 million grant
from NASA to explore the damage to human DNA caused by radiation that
penetrates hulls of spacecrafts and space stations.

Led by principal investigator Dr. Sandeep Burma, assistant professor of
radiation oncology, the UT Southwestern team will study how human cells
respond to ionizing radiation, which is composed of particles that have
sufficient energy to damage components of living cells, especially their
DNA, hampering the cells' abilities to repair themselves and reproduce. If
such DNA damage is not fixed properly by the cell, it may lead to cancer.

"NASA would like to know if damage caused by radiation in outer space is
far more dangerous than that caused by terrestrial radiation such as
X-rays," said Dr. Burma, a molecular biologist.

Dr. Burma's research project has become more relevant as NASA astronauts
and crews on the International Space Station are spending more time
subjected to space radiation than previous generations of astronauts and
cosmonauts.

Scientists have long known that space radiation passing through the outer
shielding of spacecraft -- mostly a specially engineered aluminum -- can
fragment into other forms of radiation thereby increasing the complexity
and, perhaps, the injuriousness of the radiation field inside.

The findings will have implications for the shielding material NASA uses
for the outer hull of spacecrafts and for the safety design of spacesuits.
Dr. Burma said he also hopes the results may shed light on exactly how
human cells respond to the complex DNA damage caused by space radiation
that has passed through shielding material, especially on long-term
missions.

In his research project, Dr. Burma will take advantage of the capabilities
of the booster accelerator at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory in the
Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y. Beams of heavy ions
generated at the accelerator will be shot at human cells growing in flasks
and will help researchers simulate and measure the direct effects of
outer-space radiation compared with that of space radiation that has
passed through the shielding material of spacecraft.

Dr. Burma's grant was part of $19 million NASA awarded in June to 21 space
radiation research projects and the only one awarded to an academic
institution in Texas.

IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu/vgn/i...34580burma.jpg
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Dr. Sandeep Burma, assistant professor of radiation oncology, is leading a
team of UT Southwestern researchers exploring the damage to human DNA
caused by radiation that penetrates hulls of spacecrafts and space
stations.