Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: landman@eng.sun.com (Howard A. Landman) Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: Re: STM nuclear reactions Message-ID: Date: 5 Dec 90 04:00:44 GMT Sender: nanotech@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca. Lines: 22 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu >In article >ems@buttermilk.princeton.edu (Ed Strong) writes: >>Assuming you knew where to >>look, normal radioactive decay of an individual atom is a comparatively >>tame event, compared to fission of an atom. >> I can't say whether it would be energetic enough to break DNA bonds. In article toms@fcs260c2.ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) writes: >Anybody know? >>[My guess is that anything ionizing could break bonds. --JoSH] You're all overlooking something very obvious, which is that after a radioactive decay you've got an atom of a *different* *element* there, which will have different bonding properties than your original atom. This has some severe implications for the survival of any affected bonds! -- Howard A. Landman landman@eng.sun.com -or- sun!landman Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com