[Specialized radiation-induced heritable nonstochastic damage at the cellular level of the organization]

In addition to widely known stochastic mutation effects, radiation also induces qualitatively different threshold (nonstochastic) changes that influence the genome but are not conditioned by mutations. The main characteristics of these changes are: spasmodic occurrence in virtually 100% of cells; independence of radiation dose (with regard to the degree of manifestation); low inducing doses; absence of repair throughout the indefinitely large number of cell generations; nonspecificity to mutagen agents, etc. The occurrence of the above changes among objects of different organization is demonstrated and the necessity of taking them into account in estimating a radiation danger is indicated.