mutation by gamma ray - why gamma ray? (Jul/21/2007 )
hello guys.. 
i will be doing mutation by gamma ray on plants for my final year thesis project. actually, the usage of gamma ray is suggested by my supervisor. but i think it will be more fun if we know the reason. i did some reading and it stated that gamma ray have advantage in terms of shorter wavelength which give the higher energy level and its strong penetration power.
I really appreciate it if any of my kind forum friend here would like to give some opinion about this selection of mutation medium. 
is there any mutation method that is more suitable as i will transform a herb plant, Orthosiphon stamineus, or better known as pokok misai kucing in my country.
Thank you guys.
i will be doing mutation by gamma ray on plants for my final year thesis project. actually, the usage of gamma ray is suggested by my supervisor. but i think it will be more fun if we know the reason. i did some reading and it stated that gamma ray have advantage in terms of shorter wavelength which give the higher energy level and its strong penetration power.I really appreciate it if any of my kind forum friend here would like to give some opinion about this selection of mutation medium.
is there any mutation method that is more suitable as i will transform a herb plant, Orthosiphon stamineus, or better known as pokok misai kucing in my country. Thank you guys.
There are many chemicals causing mutations, have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation
UV is also possible as alternative radiation, but not so effective.
dear hobglobin, thank you for ur help and advice. I really appreciate it 
Thanks for sharing, may God bless u.
i will be doing mutation by gamma ray on plants for my final year thesis project. actually, the usage of gamma ray is suggested by my supervisor. but i think it will be more fun if we know the reason. i did some reading and it stated that gamma ray have advantage in terms of shorter wavelength which give the higher energy level and its strong penetration power.I really appreciate it if any of my kind forum friend here would like to give some opinion about this selection of mutation medium.
is there any mutation method that is more suitable as i will transform a herb plant, Orthosiphon stamineus, or better known as pokok misai kucing in my country. Thank you guys.
the choice of the mutagen strongly depends on the desired mutation type. gamma will induce larg(er) deletion with higher probability than UV, which can induce shorter deletions. EMS can induce point mutations. and so on. depending what type of alleles you're interested in obtaining, you choose the respective mutagen.