THE BIOLOGY OF DEUTERIUM

g been noted, but the full scope and nature of these effects still remain largely unexplored. Early work was greatly hampered by the difficulties of obtaining deuterium but the development of a vast nuclear energy technology has made deuterium available on a larghe scale. It has now become opportune to undertake comprehensive reports work undertaken on algae, fungi, bacteria, and mammals. Mice will tolerate up to about 40 per cent D/sub 2/O in the drinking water for at least four months; of about 30 per cent heavy water. When deuteration is into various tissues and organs to the amount of from 40 to 50 per cent of the deuterium in the body fluids. 25 atom per cent, for as long as 12 months without obcal effects of deuterium is the kinetic isotpe effect. In general, bonds to deuterium react less readily than bonds to hydrogen; in consequence, reaction reates are decreased, and a depression in tissue metabolism should result. At concentrations about 30 atom per cen deuterium mice and rats show weakness, neutrmuscular por and death Since neoplastic cells metabolize rapidly, presumably these should be particularly sensitive to the effects of deuteration. Deuteration of host mice resulted in reduced growthmore » rates of injected Krebs-2 ascites tumors and of inoculated P-1534 lymphatic leukemia. The general effects of deuterium on growth has been Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmus obliquus, have been have been harvested that yield water of combustion containing more than 90 atom per cent deuterium. The e were altered by deuteration. The fungi Penicillium notatum and Aspergillus fonsecaeus have been grown in media containing various concentrations of D/sub 2/O up to 99.6 per cent, and here, too, morphology, sporulation, pigment production, and growth rate were all affected by deuteration. The results obtained with algae clearly indicate the feasibility of producing fully deuterated compounds of biological significance by biosynthetic procedures. Bacterial studies on Group C hemolytic streptococci, Type I pnemococci, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M.phlei, and Escherichia coli showed that the growth rates were diminished with elevation of the D/.sub 2/O concentration above 50 per cent and that cessation of growth uniformly occurred at D/sub 2/O levels greater than 90 per cent. Deuterium may also be utilized in the study of metabolism by the administration of deuterated essential metabolites. Experiments are described wherein fungi have been grown on glucose in which the hydrogen on carbon-1 (D-glucose-d/sub 1/) has been completely replaced by deuterium. (auth)« less