放射细胞遗传学有着丰富的历史，但很少被该领域之外的人认识到。早期的放射生物学以物理学和生物物理学概念为主，这些概念大量借鉴了辐射引起的染色体畸变的研究。从这些研究中，生物效应与吸收剂量、剂量率和电离密度变化之间的定量关系被编入放射生物学理论的关键概念，并持续了近一个世纪。这篇综述旨在提供其中一些概念的历史视角，包括支持这一论点的证据，即染色体畸变是人类暴露于电离辐射（包括癌症诱发）的许多（如果不是大多数）生物效应发展的基础，一方面一方面是根除肿瘤。这些研究发现的意义已经扩大并远远超出了其最初的范围。在有丝分裂细胞中观察到的染色体结构重排首先归因于间期期间辐射产生的断裂，然后是其他附近断裂末端之间的重新连接或错误重新连接。这些相对温和的开端最终导致了通过非同源末端连接修复双链断裂的 DNA 修复的发现和表征，其对各种生物过程的重要性现已得到广泛认识。其中两个例子是 V(D)J 重组和物种形成。细胞遗传学、分子放射生物学和第三代测序等新兴领域的快速技术进步成为新旧技术的交汇点。因此，新兴的“细胞基因组学”领域现在变得具有独特的地位，可以更全面地理解电离辐射暴露的生物效应背后的机制。© 2024 by Radiation Research Society。保留以任何形式复制的所有权利。

Radiation cytogenetics has a rich history seldom appreciated by those outside the field. Early radiobiology was dominated by physics and biophysical concepts that borrowed heavily from the study of radiation-induced chromosome aberrations. From such studies, quantitative relationships between biological effect and changes in absorbed dose, dose rate and ionization density were codified into key concepts of radiobiological theory that have persisted for nearly a century. This review aims to provide a historical perspective of some of these concepts, including evidence supporting the contention that chromosome aberrations underlie development of many, if not most, of the biological effects of concern for humans exposed to ionizing radiations including cancer induction, on the one hand, and tumor eradication on the other. The significance of discoveries originating from these studies has widened and extended far beyond their original scope. Chromosome structural rearrangements viewed in mitotic cells were first attributed to the production of breaks by the radiations during interphase, followed by the rejoining or mis-rejoining among ends of other nearby breaks. These relatively modest beginnings eventually led to the discovery and characterization of DNA repair of double-strand breaks by non-homologous end joining, whose importance to various biological processes is now widely appreciated. Two examples, among many, are V(D)J recombination and speciation. Rapid technological advancements in cytogenetics, the burgeoning fields of molecular radiobiology and third-generation sequencing served as a point of confluence between the old and new. As a result, the emergent field of "cytogenomics" now becomes uniquely positioned for the purpose of more fully understanding mechanisms underlying the biological effects of ionizing radiation exposure.© 2024 by Radiation Research Society. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.