International radiobiology archives of long-term animal studies: structure, possible uses and potential extension

Abstract

Animal experiments have contributed a great deal to our information on effects and risks arising from exposure to radionuclides. This applies, in particular, to alpha-emitting radionuclides where information from man is limited to thorotrast, 224Ra and 226Ra. The late C.W. Mays was the first to suggest that animal data in conjunction with epidemiological data could allow estimates of human risks for radionuclides - predominantly from actinides - where information in man is scarce. The 'International Radiobiology Archives of Long-term Animal Studies' were created through the combined efforts of European, American and Japanese scientists and aim to safeguard the large amount of existing data on long-term animal experiments and make them available for, among others, an improved assessment of risks from alpha-emitting radionuclides. This paper summarizes the structure of the archives and reviews their present status and future plans. It also demonstrates the extensive information available in these archives on alpha-emitting radionuclides which is suitable for further analysis. Also, the structure of the animal archives could - in a slightly modified form - accommodate the epidemiological data available on 224Ra and thorotrast and, thus, facilitate a direct comparison of data from man, dogs and rodents.

Past and Future Work on Radiobiology Mega-Studies: A Case Study at Argonne National Laboratory

“…Separate programs by the European Radiobiology Archive (ERA) (Tapio et al, 2008), Japanese Radiobiology Archive (JRA), and the National Radiobiology Archives (NRA) (Watson, 2010) have worked hard to preserve and categorize the studies under the umbrella of the IRA (Gerber et al, 1999). While the IRA no longer functions as a distinct institution, continuing efforts by the ERA (Tapio et al, 2008) and the Woloschak Laboratory (Woloschak, 2010) have carried on its legacy by digitizing mega study records and making them available online.…”

Big data in radiation biology and epidemiology; an overview of the historical and contemporary landscape of data and biomaterial archives

“…The Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy, and in Japan, the Japanese Late Effects Group started similar efforts around the same time to archive the American and Japanese data in the US National Radiobiology Archives (NRA) and the Japanese Radiobiological Archives (JRA), respectively. The result was an aggregated database of primary data from European, Japanese and US sources, the International Radiation Archive (IRA) (Gerber et al 1999). The JANUS data and Argonne beagle data held at Northwestern University (NURA archive) were also included.…”