Drug May Prevent Radiation Damage

A drug being tested in animals appears to help protect them from the harmful effects of radiation. Researchers hope it someday could help people exposed to radiation during cancer treatment, or a nuclear disaster. Radiation can destroy cells in the bone marrow, stomach and intestines. Researchers found out that these cells commit suicide. This is how the body destroys defective cells. But cancer cells resist and keep growing. The new drug blocks cell suicide in a way similar to that used by cancer cells. The Associated Press wrote about the study April 10. It appeared in the journal Science.