FYS4720 – Cellular Radio Biology

After having completed the course you will:

• be able to describe eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, and for eukaryotic cells internal and external organization and function, regulation of cell proliferation and growth, some aspects of metabolism and macromolecular synthesis as well as types of DNA damage, chromosomal aberrations, and DNA repair.
• know the mechanistic relation between cell-cycle progression, DNA-repair, and cell survival.
• understand and be able to describe energy deposition by different types of ionizing radiation in solid substances as well as in aqueous solutions. This includes the target theory and concepts like LET and RBE.
• be able to describe the mechanisms for cell inactivation.
• understand the tight correlation between cell-cycle regulation and the effect of ionizing radiation in general.
• be able to perform calculations and evaluations based on different models/derivations for cell survival after irradiation.
• understand the role of hypoxia in radiation response and cancer development.
• understand dose rate- and fractionation effects and the underlying biological mechanisms
• be able to use the alpha-beta-model as a basis for the development of the BED/EQD2-model used for planning of dose-fractionation in radiotherapy.
• understand the importance of biological dose and differential biological responses in particle therapy.

Students admitted at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may apply to take this course as a single course student.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

The following courses must be passed before the first mandatory laboratory exercise in FYS4720:

• HMS0503 – Laboratory Safety
• HMS0505 – Electricity Safety

• FYS3700 – Biophysics and Medical Physics

The course extends over a whole semester with four hours of lectures per week.

In addition, one week is reserved for the laboratory exercise. The students are divided into groups. The number of hours for laboratory exercise per student (hours by the clock) is approximately 20.

The laboratory exercise is mandatory, including a final report. The laboratory report must be approved before you can take the final exam. The laboratory report is presented to the examiner during the final oral exam.

See rules for mandatory activities/assignments.

As the teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance. Read about your insurance coverage as a student.

• Final oral or written exam which counts 100 % towards the final grade

If more than 16 students register for the course, the exam will be written.

This course has mandatory exercises that must be approved before you can take the final exam.

It will also be counted as one of the three attempts to sit the exam for this course if you sit the exam for one of the following courses: ​FYS9720 – Cellular Radiobiology

Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.

Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.