In this joint article published in the Journal of the History of Biology, authors Goldstein and Stawkowski describe disagreements about the genetic effects of low-dose radiation exposure as waged by James Neel (1915–2000), who studied Japanese populations after World War II, and Yuri Dubrova (1955–), who analyzed the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Goldstein and Stawkowski investigate what their findings reveal about genetic science.