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Commercial radiation sterilization has existed since the late 1950s and has grown tremendously in popularity over the last 60 years. [1] Radiation sterilization relies on ionizing radiation, primarily gamma, X-ray or electron radiation, to deactivate microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and spores. Due to numerous advantages over heat or chemical based sterilization techniques, this method is particularly attractive in medicine and healthcare-related fields. [2] For example, radiation sterilization is readily applied during tissue allograft preparation, pharmaceutical packaging and medical device manufacturing. [3]
Process and Dosage
Radiation can be lethal to biological organisms by inducing genetic damage and chemical changes in key biological macromolecules. [3] During sterilization treatment, the sample of interest is bombarded with high energy electrons or high energy electromagnetic radiation, which leads to the formation of extremely unstable free radicals, molecular ions and secondary electrons. These radiation products then react with nearby molecules to fracture and alter chemical bonds. DNA in particular is highly sensitive to the damaging effects of radiation and will break, depolymerize, mutate and alter structure upon exposure to ionizing radiation. Incomplete repair of DNA damage ultimately leads to loss of genetic information and cell death. Thus, radiation can kill harmful microorganisms and be used as a sterilization technique.
The sensitivity of
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