Radiation "protection" by drug claimed

Animal tests have confirmed that a drug could be developed to help the human body resist bursts of radiation doses, according to a paper published in Science magazine. The compound, known as CBLB502, works by triggering a biological mechanism that helps healthy cells survive a radiation dose. It was developed from studies of how some cancer cells resist radiotherapy, according to the UK public broadcaster, the BBC.

Andrei Gudkov, of the US Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, said that the drug was demonstrated as "efficaceous when injected before radiation and after radiation." The researchers hope to develop a technique for making radiotherapy for cancer patients safer and it could eventually have uses for people irradiated in a nuclear accident or terrorist attack.