Sterilization If administered at appropriate levels, all forms of ionizing radiation can sterilize objects, including medical instruments, disposables such as syringes, and sterilize food. Ionizing radiation (electron beams, X-rays and gamma rays) may be used to kill bacteria in food or other organic material, including blood. Food<unk> , while effective, is seldom used due to problems with public acceptance. Medicine<unk>  is used in diagnostic imaging, cancer therapy and blood transfusion. In 2011 researchers found that<unk>  was successful in the novel theranostic technique involving co-treatment with heptamethine dyes to elucidate tumor cells and attenuate their growth with minimal side effects. Ion implantation Ion<unk>  is routinely used to implant impurities atoms into materials, especially semiconductors, to modify their properties. This process, usually known as ion implantation, is an important step in the manufacture of silicon integrated circuits. Ion<unk>  Ion<unk>  means in general using particle accelerators to shoot energetic ions on a material. Ion implantation is a variety of ion<unk> , as is swift heavy ions<unk>  from particle accelerators induces ion tracks that can be used for nanotechnology. Industrial chemistry<unk>  can be used to cross-link plastics or to improve material qualities of semi-precious stones. Due to its efficiency, electron beam processing is often used in the<unk>  treatment of polymer-based products to improve their mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, and often to add unique properties. Cross-linked polyethylene pipe (PEX), high-temperature products such as tubing and gaskets, wire and cable jacket curing, curing of composite materials, and crosslinking of tires are a few examples. Security During the 2001 anthrax attacks, the US Postal Service irradiated mail to protect members of the US government and other possible targets. This was of some concern to people who send digital media through the mail, including artists. According to the ART in Embassies program, "incoming mail is irradiated, and the process destroys slides, transparencies and disks." Agriculture After its discovery by Lewis Stadler at the University of Missouri,<unk>  of seed and plant germplasm has resulted in creating many widely-grown cultivars of food crops worldwide. The process, which consists of striking plant seeds or germplasm with radiation in the form of X-rays, UV waves, heavy-ion beams, or gamma rays, essentially induce lesions of the DNA, leading to mutations in the genome. The UN has been an active participant through the International Atomic Energy Agency.<unk>  is also employed to prevent the sprouting of certain cereals, onions, potatoes and garlic. Appropriate<unk>  doses are also used to produce insects for use in the sterile insect technique of pest control. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recognizes<unk>  as an important technology to protect consumers. Fresh meat and poultry including whole or cut up birds, skinless poultry, pork chops, roasts, stew meat, liver, hamburgers, ground meat, and ground poultry are approved for<unk> . Assassination Some claim that Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who died of lung cancer in Bucharest on March 19, 1965, was intentionally irradiated during a visit to Moscow, due to his political stance. In 1999, an article in Der Spiegel alleged that the East German MfS intentionally irradiated political prisoners with high-dose radiation, possibly to provoke cancer. Alexander Litvinenko, a secret serviceman who was tackling organized crime in Russia, was intentionally poisoned with polonium-210; the very large internal doses of radiation he received caused his death.
Irradiation
Radiation
Chemoradiotherapy
Radiation therapy
Chemotherapy
Brachytherapy
Tomotherapy
Total body irradiation