The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) said Monday that its Advanced Radiation Technology Institute has developed a precision prediction model for radiation’s damage to DNA for the first time.
By precisely predicting the level of radiation’s damage on DNA, medical professionals can evaluate the effect of radiation on the human body and prepare it in advance. Research on radiation damage prediction through modeling and simulation (M&S) technology is active worldwide, KAERI said, explaining the background for the latest study.
Accordingly, the state-run research body also initiated developing models for predicting radiation damage on body substances such as DNA and protein.
The team changed the intricate DNA structure to a coarse-grained structure to build the model, a combined structure different from the real DNA represented in individual atoms. The coarse-grained model gauged the radiation level of spaces between atoms, calculating radiation levels.
Then the researchers identified each point when atoms are damaged. The damaged radiation level of each atom varies even within the same DNA. Researchers used the moment when bonds between atoms were broken as the standard. Finally, they completed the “simulation code,” which portrayed the level of radiation damage on DNA and confirmed accuracy similar to existing technology.
The existing technology predicts damage through tracer study based on statistical data. Still, the model developed by KAERI researchers can be applied to animals with no prior data and even predict amino acid and protein structural damage.
It can precisely distinguish the area and type of radiation damage compared to existing methods as it individually counts the damage of each atom.
The agency plans to secure source technology to enable radiation damage simulation on all entities starting from the DNA model.
“Radiation damage simulation can be used in diverse fields, such as space and medical sector, in addition to nuclear energy,” KAERI President Park Won-seok said. “We will excel in the newly emerging field of radiation modeling and simulation.”
The research results were published in the online version of Scientific Reports on July 5.