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| Science & Technology |
| Nobel Laureate With Agenda Lied About Radiation 1946, Still Fouls Us Up Today |
| 2011-09-21 |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese, whose career research shows that low doses of some chemicals and radiation are benign or even helpful, says he has uncovered evidence that one of the fathers of radiation genetics, Nobel Prize winner Hermann Muller, knowingly lied when he claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. Calabrese's interpretation of this history is supported by letters and other materials he has retrieved, many from formerly classified files. He published key excerpts this month in Archives of Toxicology and Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. Muller was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery that X-rays induce genetic mutations. This helped him call attention to his long-time concern over the dangers of atomic testing. Muller's intentions were good, Calabrese points out, but his decision not to mention key scientific evidence against his position has had a far-reaching impact on our approach to regulating radiation and chemical exposure. Calabrese adds, "This isn't an academic debate, it's really practical, because all of our rules about chemical and low-level radiation are based on the premises that Muller and the National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) committee adopted at that time. Now, after all these years, it's very hard when people have been frightened to death by this dogma to persuade them that we don't need to be scared by certain low-dose exposures." "One could argue that Muller single-handedly undermined above-ground atomic testing, which is a good thing," Calabrese says. "But after uncovering this lie, I'm starting to contemplate what society would have looked like if the regulatory community had felt free to use a threshold model. Members of that 1956 NAS BEAR committee didn't see the domino effect of their actions on our society. Muller's impact on the world of today is almost incalculable. He couldn't have imagined it. But we shouldn't have to live with it." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 Even more amazing? A UMASS/Amherst prof brought it to light. They're probably out in front of his house tonight with torches and pitchforks... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-09-21 19:20 |
| #2 Nobel Laureates with an agenda? I am shocked! |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2011-09-21 18:19 |
| #1 So as not to confuse him with the other Hermann Muller, his full name is Hermann Joseph Muller. He was wiped out in the 1929 stock market crash, that gave him enough interest in communism to emigrate to the USSR. But because of Lysenkoism, he had to leave and come back to the US. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-21 13:31 |