Annihilation radiation Annihilation radiation Annihilation radiation is a term used in Gamma spectroscopy for the gamma radiation produced when a particle and its antiparticle collide and annihilate. Most commonly, this refers to 511-keV gamma rays produced by a normal (negative) electron colliding with a positron. Annihilation radiation is not monoenergetic, unlike gamma rays produced by radioactive decay. The production mechanism of annihilation radiation introduces Doppler broadening. The annihilation peak produced in a gamma spectrum by annihilation radiation therefore has a higher full width at half maximum (FWHM) than other gamma rays in spectrum. The difference is more apparent with high resolution detectors,
Biological effects of radiation on the epigenome for many cell divisions. One way this non-Mendelian mode of inheritance can be explained is through epigenetic mechanisms. Ionizing radiation exposure affects patterns of DNA methylation. Breast cancer cells treated with fractionated doses of ionizing radiation showed DNA hypomethylation at the various gene loci; dose fractionation refers to breaking down one dose of radiation into separate, smaller doses. Hypomethylation of these genes correlated with decreased expression of various DNMTs and methyl CpG binding proteins. LINE1 transposable elements have been identified as targets for ionizing radiation. The hypomethylation of LINE1 elements results in activation of the elements and thus an increase