The irradiationsystem can be used for various basic and applied research such as cells and small animals. There has been a long history of using radioisotopes for biological research irradiation, and today smaller, safer, simpler and less costly X-ray irradiation equipment can be installed in the laboratory or even on the workbench, the test subject will not suffer from adverse effects of exposure to fertility and safety, the human-computer interaction of the system and no expensive licensing and safety maintenance costs.
The technology was first used to kill the larvae of a blowfly called Trichocephalus, which lives on livestock and can invade wounds, killing animals and costing the U.S. livestock industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year. On Sanibel Island, researchers successfully eliminated blowflies from the island by releasing sterile male flies caused by radiation, and another field release test on the 460-square-kilometer Dutch island of Curacao achieved fly purification in just seven weeks.
