A primary objective of the planetary exploration program is the detection of possible extraterrestrial life. The study of the fundamental properties of living things on Earth is restricted to the type of life which has evolved and survived here. Life which has been exposed to totally different environmental conditions may have markedly different physiological characteristics. The impact of the new information obtainable from the study of extraterrestrial life upon the sciences of medicine and biology will unquestionably be of fundamental and far-reaching importance. Advancement in the treatment of disease and the problems of aging are among the many possible consequences. New developments in such techniques as ultraviolet spectrophotometry, polarimetry, and gas chromatography will find use in the detection of biochemicals and other compounds in hospitals and in toxicology and pathology laboratories. They will also be useful in studies of atmospheric pollutants such as smog. Studies of the chemistry of living systems, molecular biology, and biophysics of cellular processes will create a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of life, leading to an understanding of both inherited and acquired disease, especially neoplastic conditions and chemical disturbances incident to mental disease. The University of Pittsburgh is conducting a study to increase the availability of cytological technique in research and as a monitoring procedure by developing an automatic electronic scanning device using computer analysis for recording, counting, and sorting chromosomes. Structural changes in blood cell chromosomes can indicate the degree of radiation damage as well as damage resulting from various environmental stresses. Accordingly, this instrument, when developed, can be used as a radiation dosimeter in civil defense by swiftly detecting the degree and type of chromosomal aberrations in blood cells. Thus, casualties in nuclear attack could be quickly detected and treated. This system would also be useful for nuclear industrial plants and for military maneuvers. In medicine, various disease trends could be monitored. (Chromosomes exhibit anomalies in leukemia and mental retardation as well as in other states.) In space exploration and experimentation, the device can spot monitor radiation dose levels as well as changes resulting from any of the environmental stresses experienced in space. This apparatus can be modified for use as an extraterrestrial-life-detecting instrument by scanning the growth of cells (or cellular inclusions), computing rates, and telemetering changes to the researcher.