This book is based on two keywords: Bioradical and ESR. Bioradical is a
newly coined word which encompasses paramagnetic species in biological
systems, such as active oxygen radicals and transition metal ions.
Research on the structure and function of bioradicals has been attrac-
ting growing attention in the field of biological science, and
comprehensive investigations from many fields are helping to understand
the real features of these species. ESR spectroscopy also has
interdisciplinary features in that its techniques have been applied to
many fields, ranging from physics to medicine. It was our hope,
therefore, that this book would help to clarify many aspects of
bioradicals and that significant progress would be achieved in combining
basic research from many different fields. This book arises from the
First International Conference on Bioradicals Detected by ESR
Spectroscopy (ICBES), which was held in Yamagata, a city in the Yamagata
Prefecture of Japan, in 1994. About 300 participants from 16 different
countries attended this conference, and about 170 papers were presented.
This book is a collection of contributions from the conference and also
contains eleven chapters selected by the editorial board, based on
sugges- tions from the members of the international editorial board of
ICBES. The Yamagata Technopolis Foundation is developing a biomedical
technology for the 21st century based on life science fused with
material and physical science. Based on such a techno- logy, the
Foundation plans to share its fruits all over the world.