Heritable radiation effects on mouse body and organ weights, fat deposition, cellular enzymes, and blood.

HE importance of better understanding the possible cumulative genetic effects of irradiation exposure over many generations has been pointed out repeatedly (UNITED NATIONS 1958,1962; SCOTT and EVANS 1959; MCGREGOR and NEWCOMBE 1962; NEWCOMBE and MCGREGOR 1965). In 1957 a program was initiated to investigate some of the possible nonspecific effects of X irradiation of male mouse progenitors on consecutive generations ( SPALDING, BROOKS and McWILLIAMS 1964; SPALDING and BROOKS 1965). These and other studies (SPALDING 1963a,b; HENSLEY, OAKLEY and HOWES 1964) indicated that control and irradiated lines do not differ in life expectancy but do show significant differences in certain litter characteristics, resistance to gammaand X-ray exposure at low dose rates, and voluntary activity levels. To gain more information concerning other possible genetic differences between irradiated and control line mice, we have made comparative studies on selected fat deposition, organ weights, blood constituents, and activity levels of enzymes in the two lines, and the results of these investigations are the subject of this communication.