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_____ UNCLASSIFIED ~
. BIOLOGY ‘AND MEDICINE
under the auspices of AEC and the National Science Foundation. Because of the success of the
program last summer, the course will be offered during the summer of 1957 at two additional
universities, Wayne State University, Detroit, and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Questionnaires returned by teachers who participated in the 1956 program are being used
in improving the course, particularly by the use of additional teaching aids such as posters,
slides, movies, “do-it-yourself” kits, and isotopes. AEC plans to operate the 1957 program
at a cost of about $125,000; the National Science Foundation will provide about $100,000 for _.
stipends and family support. An additional $75,000 would be used for improved kits which will
be provided free of charge to those teachera who successfully complete the course.
AEC will sponsor visiting lectureships in radiobiology at small colleges and universities
as apart of a program establishedby the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Inan |
effort to stimulate student interest in scientific careers, AEC. will provide about 20 scientists
' from its laboratories to lecture on radiobiology and the use of isotopes in research. Lecturers .
will be assigned to institutions in nearby states to reduce travel costs and the loss of time. _
Brookhaven Medical Research Center
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The first nuclear.reactor designed exclusively for medical therapy and research is under
construction as part af the new medical research center at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
reactor, is scheduledfor completion early in 1958.
The reactor will be used in part for treating certain types of brain tumors by neutron
n
capture therapy. In this type of treatment, the patient is given an injection of a boron .com-
pound which tends to localize in the tumor and capture neutrons. A neutron beam from the
reactor will be directed at the tumor and the radioactivity generated in the boron bythis.
beam will destroy the tumor cells with little or no effect on the surrounding healthy tissues.
In. addition to this use, the reactor will provide a supply of short-lived isotopes which can be
used for the investigation of fundamental body processes. (End of UNCLASSIFIED section.)
UNCLASSIFIED
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Construction of the reactor by the Daystrom Nuclear Division, Daystrom, Inc., was 12 per-.
cent complete on December 31, 1956. Construction of the entire medical center, including the