Dynamics of the degradation of tritium-substituted deoxyribonucleic acid in aqueous solution from dielectric relaxation and viscosity measurements

Abstract

The molecular degradation of deoxyribonucleic acid substituted by tritium at medium and low radioactivity levels has been studied in aqueous solution by means of dielectric dispersion measurements in the frequency range 50–8000 Hz, and the mean molecular weight has been determined. From the results obtained we have been able to deduce that one effect of the β-radiation from the tritium incorporated in the DNA is that of the breaking of a double-strand to form lower-molecular-weight fragments. The degree of degradation is proportional to the radioactivity of the specimens. These results are in good agreement with those obtained from viscosity measurements.