Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident: Are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?

This paper focuses on how a community of researchers under the COMET (CO-ordination and iMplementation of a pan European projecT for radioecology) project has improved the capacity of marine radioecology to understand at the process level the behaviour of radionuclides in the marine environment, uptake by organisms and the resulting doses after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident occurred in 2011. We present new radioecological understanding of the processes involved, such as the interaction of waterborne radionuclides with suspended particles and sediments or the biological uptake and turnover of radionuclides, which have been better quantified and mathematically described. We demonstrate that biokinetic models can better represent radionuclide transfer to biota in non-equilibrium situations, bringing more realism to predictions, especially when combining physical, chemical and biological interactions that occur in such an open and dynamic environment as the ocean. As a result, we are readier now than we were before the FDNPP accident in terms of having models that can be applied to dynamic situations. The paper concludes with our vision for marine radioecology as a fundamental research discipline and we present a strategy for our discipline at the European and international levels. The lessons learned are presented along with their possible applicability to assess/reduce the environmental consequences of future accidents to the marine environment and guidance for future research, as well as to assure the sustainability of marine radioecology. This guidance necessarily reflects on why and where further research funding is needed, signalling the way for future investigations.

Joint research towards a better radiation protection-highlights of the Fifth MELODI Workshop.

MELODI is the European platform dedicated to low-dose radiation risk research. From 7 October through 10 October 2013 the Fifth MELODI Workshop took place in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop offered the opportunity to 221 unique participants originating from 22 countries worldwide to update their knowledge and discuss radiation research issues through 118 oral and 44 poster presentations. In addition, the MELODI 2013 workshop was reaching out to the broader radiation protection community, rather than only the low-dose community, with contributions from the fields of radioecology, emergency and recovery preparedness, and dosimetry. In this review, we summarise the major scientific conclusions of the workshop, which are important to keep the MELODI strategic research agenda up-to-date and which will serve to establish a joint radiation protection research roadmap for the future.

Biological carrier molecules of radiopharmaceuticals for molecular cancer imaging and targeted cancer therapy.

Many tumors express one or more proteins that are either absent or hardly present in normal tissues, and which can be targeted by radiopharmaceuticals for either visualization of tumor cells or for targeted therapy. Radiopharmaceuticals can consist of a radionuclide and a carrier molecule that interacts with the tumor target and as such guides the attached radionuclide to the right spot. Radiopharmaceuticals hold great promise for the future of oncology by providing early, precise diagnosis and better, personalized treatment. Most advanced developments with marketed products are based on whole antibodies or antibody fragments as carrier molecules. However, a substantial number of (pre)clinical studies indicate that radiopharmaceuticals based on other carrier molecules, such as peptides, nonimmunoglobulin scaffolds, or nucleic acids may be valuable alternatives. In this review, we discuss the biological molecules that can deliver radionuclide payloads to tumor cells in terms of their structure, the selection procedure, their (pre)clinical status, and advantages or obstacles to their use in a radiopharmaceutical design. We also consider the plethora of molecular targets existing on cancer cells that can be targeted by radiopharmaceuticals, as well as how to select a radionuclide for a given diagnostic or therapeutic product.