radiosensitivity
- noun
- /ˌreɪdioʊsɛnˈsɪtɪvɪti/
- Specialized
:
radiosensibilidad
- Understanding the radiosensitivity of tumor cells can help doctors design more effective radiation therapy treatments.
Examples
-
Egg cells and zygotes at 6-10 h after fusion are estimated to be in the G1 and S phases, respectively, and these are consistent with the reports for cell cycle-dependent radiosensitivity of rice zygotes.
Academic text (2018) -
The varying responses are probably due less to differences in intrinsic cellular radiosensitivity than to differences in genetic machinery activated by radiation, in DNA repair kinetics, and in the mechanisms of cell repopulation.
Academic text (2002) -
Researchers measured the radiosensitivity of different cell types to determine how effectively they could repair radiation damage.
-
Higher radiosensitivity in certain tissues can lead to more severe side effects after radiation exposure.
Surface Forms
Morphology
radiosensitivity = radiosensitive (semi-transparent) = radio + sensitive + ity
Formation from 'radiosensitive' + '-ity' is regular, but the 'radio-' element may be interpreted by learners as 'radio (device/waves)' rather than 'radiation', making the term moderately hard for non-specialists.
Etymology
Radiosensitivity starts with radio-, which means 'ray' and is the same start you see in radio, and ends with sensitivity, from 'sensitive' meaning 'easily affected'. So radiosensitivity shows how easily cells, tissues, or organisms are affected or damaged by rays like X-rays or gamma rays.
