Ural federal university: Prof. Zatsepin says ‘Low Radiation Doses Kill Coronavirus’
On the part of UrFU, the scientific group in these studies is headed by Anatoly Zatsepin. Photo: Danil Ilyukhin.
A team of scientists from Russia and Uzbekistan has established that low doses of radiation (for example, X-rays) can destroy the coronavirus. Experts are developing guidelines for the use of radiation in the treatment of patients with Covid-19 and during disinfection.
“An original mechanism of the Auger destruction of the virus heredity molecule under the influence of small doses of soft X-rays was proposed,” says Anatoly Zatsepin, professor of UrFU, head of the scientific laboratory “Physics of functional materials of carbon micro- and optoelectronics”. – The essence of this pioneering idea is that a huge RNA molecule of a given virus, when it enters a human cell, is forced to strongly deform in many areas along its length. It turned out that deformed places along the RNA molecule are a thousand times more sensitive to radiation exposure than the molecules of healthy cells. From this it followed that small doses of radiation, destructive for the virus, would be absolutely safe for healthy cells. “
The study of the radiation effect on the new coronavirus is being carried out by scientists from UrFU and the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The study began with an idea put forward in April 2020 by a group of scientists from Uzbekistan headed by Professor Boris Oksengendler, who is also a laboratory employee at UrFU. Currently, in the course of joint research, several details of the effect of soft X-rays and even ultraviolet radiation on coronavirus have been discovered, scientists say. Experts suggest using radiation not only for treating a person and preventing diseases, but also for disinfecting objects, products and premises. A joint team of scientists from the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan is currently developing a treatment method.
“This method is designed not only for Covid-19 viruses, but also for other viruses, in particular, for its mutations. As physicists, we develop and analyze the mechanisms of radiation exposure at the micro level, and biologists and doctors help us understand how this affects the human body as a whole. At the same time, in the light of recent events, it should be noted that no mutations of the virus that prevent the fight against it by biological methods do not at all affect the effectiveness of the radiation method according to the mechanism of Auger destruction,” Zatsepin emphasized.
Scientists plan to determine whether the proposed mechanism is dominant in all possible situations or not.