Heavy-ion radiobiology is attracting increasing interest for its implications in radiation oncology and space radiation protection. The analysis of chromosome aberrations induced by heavy-ions started already in the 1960s, but the new FISH-painting methodologies are revealing unique features of the action of the heavy charged particles. Heavy-ions induce a high fraction of complex-type exchanges, and possibly unique chromosome rearrangements. The relative biological effectiveness for the induction of cytogenetic damage is strongly dependent on the time between irradiation and chromosome harvest, due to cell-cycle delays and loss of heavily damaged cells. In this review we will concentrate on recent data obtained with multicolor FISH methods in mammalian chromosomes exposed to heavy-ions, and the open questions that remain to be addressed.
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