Department of Biophysics and Radiobiology of the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine is a research institute engaged in investigations on radiobiology of plants and radioecology. The Department was founded in 1962 in the Institute of Plant Physiology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. The founder of the Department and its permanent leader is Professor, Doctor of Sciences, Full Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Grodzinsky D.M.

Four Laboratories are incorporated into Department, namely, Laboratory of General Radiobiology of Plants, Laboratory of Radiation Cytology, Laboratory of Signal Transduction in Biological Systems, and Laboratory of Radioecology. Over thirty researches and engineers are on the staff of the Department. There are prominent sciences among coworkers of the Department: Dr Sci Dmitriev A.P. (mechanisms of radiosensibilization, interrelation between Fungi and Higher Plants), Dr Sci Kutlahmedov Y.A. (General Radioecology), Dr Sci Rashidov N.M. (Radiation Biophysics, Radiotoxicology of ²⁴¹Am), Dr Sci Kravets A.P. (mathematical Models of the Radioecological Processes), D Ph Gushcha (radioadaptation, biological influence of UV), D Ph Kolomiets O.D. (radiation biochemistry), D Ph Kravets E.A. (radiation cytology, embryology), D Ph Micheev A.N. (effects of low doses irradiation), D Ph Rozhko I.I. (tracer method), D Ph Sorochinsky B.W. (phytorehabilitation methods, biotechnology).

The Department serves as a basis of the chair of Radiobiology in National Kiev University Tarasa Shevchenko. The Department in 1992 organized the C hair of Radiobiology.

The main lines of investigations have been last decades as follows: natural radioactivity of plants and soils, effects of low dose irradiation on plants, radioprotection and radiosensibilization, mechanisms of reparation of DNA, chromatin and membranes as well as studies of photosynthetic metabolism, compartmentation of metabolic pools, renewal rates for metabolites, components of membranes and enzymes, some problems of practical using of ionizing radiation. The most substantial result of these investigations was building up the Theory of Reliability of Plant Systems.

The main attention of the Department is directed just after the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 to the problems concerned effects of radionuclide contamination on plants. The emphasis is on the next aspects of investigations: searching plant test-systems related to evaluation of biological effects of low doses irradiation, late effects of chronic irradiation in plants, assessment of Relative Biological Effects of irradiation resulted from radionuclides incorporated in plant tissue, cumulative effect of chronic irradiation, genome instability induced by irradiation, phenomenon of radioadaptation in plants, technologies of phytoremediation, control of transfer coefficients for some radionuclides, assessment of ecological risks caused by radionuclide contamination of soil. A unique collection of mutants of winter wheat has been originated on the bases of the genetically changed forms of plants collected in fields located near the wrecked unit of the nuclear reactor. From this point on investigation has been proceeding on the fields of pathophysiology of plants, biological effects of UV irradiation, impacts of cosmic space factors on plant development, genetic manipulations in biotechnology.

The main achievements of investigations carried out in Department are reflected in 22 monographs, many hundreds of publication in scientific magazines/ The Department has above twenty patents. More then 60 young specialists from Germany, Russia, Yugoslavia, Slovakia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Latvian, Moldova have been worked as postgraduate students in the Department. Pupils of Department are working now in universities and other institutions of the United Kingdom, USA, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Ukrainian Society of Radiobiology and The Ukrainian Association of Plant Biologists has the Department as a base for their activities.

Address of the Department of Biophysics and Radiobiology
31/17 Vassilkovskaya Street,
03022 Kiev, Ukraine.
Phone: +380 44 2636167
Fax: +380 44 2581050
E-mail: crbre2003@yahoo.com, dmgrod@ukrpack.net

The list of publications you can see here.