The children of atomic bomb survivors: a synopsis

When the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred in the summer of 1945, most members of the public presumed that many of the children conceived by the survivors would be grossly deformed or seriously damaged in other ways as a consequence of radiation-induced mutations. Although the experimental data then available, largely limited to studies of Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, did not support this perception, the limitations of the data and the depth of public concern warranted a careful follow-up of the children born to the survivors. To this end a surveillance was begun in 1947 of all pregnancy outcomes after 20 weeks of gestation in these two cities. Over the half century subsequent to the initiation of this surveillance, some 80-odd thousand pregnancy outcomes have been studied and a variety of potential indicators of mutational damage measured. This report summarises the findings of these studies and offers an estimate of the genetic risk based on these findings.