A synchrotron-based X-ray exposure station for radiation biology experiments

Synchrotron X-ray sources enable radiation biology experiments that are difficult with conventional sources. A synchrotron source can easily deliver a monochromatic, tunable energy, highly collimated X-ray beam of well-calibrated intensity. An exposure station at beamline 10.3.1 of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) has been developed which delivers a variable energy (5–20 keV) X-ray fan beam with very sharp edges (10–90% in less than 3 μm). A series of experiments have been done with a four-well slide where a stripe (100 μm wide×18 mm long) of cells in each well has been irradiated and the dose varied from well to well. With this facility we have begun a series of experiments to study cells adjacent to irradiated cells and how they respond to the damage of their neighbors. Initial results have demonstrated the advantages of using synchrotron radiation for these experiments.