In order to understand the underlying mechanisms of heavy ion interactions with biological targets, we have developed a scoring program which enumerates the ionization clusters in nanometrical volumes such as nucleosomes. This cluster model was first suggested by Goodhead et al. to explain the important role of low energy electrons in the cellular inactivation. We have performed a Monte-Carlo simulation to test this model for a large variety of ions. We have performed a Monte-Carlo simulation to test this model for a large variety of ions. For helium ions, the experimental number of lethal lesions vs LET are well reproduced when energy deposits E >= 340 eV in volumes corresponding to nucleosomes are considered. This is not the case for heavy ions such as uranium ions.
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