_Radiation and the Population_, 29 minutes, sound, black and white,
1962. Produced by the Argonne National Laboratory. This film explains
how radiation causes mutations and how these mutations are passed on
to succeeding generations. Mutation research is illustrated with
results of experimentation on generations of mice. A discussion of
work with fruit flies and induced mutations is also included. This
film is available for loan without charge from the AEC Headquarters
Film Library, Division of Public Information, U. S. Atomic Energy
Commission, Washington, D. C. 20545 and from other AEC film libraries.
The following films were produced by the American Institute of
Biological Sciences and may be rented from the Text-Film Division,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 330 West 42nd Street, New York 10036.
_Mutation_, 28 minutes, sound, color, 1962. This film discusses
chromosomal and genetic mutations as applied to man. Muller’s work in
inducing mutations by X rays is described.
These three films are 30 minutes long, have sound, are in black and
white, and were released in 1960. They are part of a 48-film series
that is correlated with the textbook, _Principles of Genetics_, (fifth
edition), Edmund W. Sinnott, L. C. Dunn, and Theodosius Dobzhansky,
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1958, 459 pp., $8.50.
_Mutagen-Induced Gene Mutation._ The narrator of this film is Hermann J.
Muller, who won a Nobel Prize in 1946 for his work in the field of
genetics. The measurement of X-ray dose in roentgens and the dose
required to double the spontaneous mutation rate in _Drosophila_ and
mice are discussed. The magnitude and meaning of permissible doses of
high-energy radiation are discussed. Other mutagenic agents
(ultraviolet light and chemical substances) are discussed, concluding
with comments on the importance of gene mutation in the present and
future.
_Selection, Genetic Death and Genetic Radiation Damage._ The narrator of
this film is Theodosius Dobzhansky, the coauthor of this booklet.
Genetic death is discussed in detail, as are examples of how genetic
loads are changed subsequent to radiation exposure. While it is
generally agreed that the great majority of mutants are harmful when
homozygous, more evidence is needed about the beneficial and
detrimental effects of mutants when heterozygous. In the case of
sickle cell anemia, heterozygotes are adaptively superior to normal
homozygotes. This makes for balanced polymorphism, by which a gene is
retained in the population despite its lethality when homozygous
because of the advantage it confers when heterozygous.
_Gene Structure and Gene Action._ The lecturer of this film is G. W.
Beadle of Cornell University. The Watson-Crick structure of DNA is
discussed in terms of mutation. Several tests of the chain separation
hypothesis for DNA replication are described (experiments with heavy
DNA, radioactive chromosomes, and the replication of DNA in vitro).
This working hypothesis is presented: The coded information in DNA is
transferred to RNA, which serves as a template for polypeptide
synthesis.