Upgrading the genome facility for radiobiological experiments with heavy-ion beams

The Genome-M facility for the automatic fast irradiation of thin biological samples with accelerated heavy ions at the U-400M cyclotron of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, is described. It allows a great deal of various samples to be irradiated within a few hours using radiation with preset and controlled characteristics. Methods for monitoring beam quality and calibrating the ionization chamber in absorbed dose units and the facility control software are also described.