A detailed study of the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the type-I collagen macromolecule has been conducted. It has been verified that exposure to ultraviolet radiation lowers the denaturation temperature of type-I collagen and that the triple helical state is destroyed provided that the radiation dose exceeds a threshold level. The threshold level was determined experimentally and is defined as the incident radiation dose, which raises the sample temperature above the (lower) denaturation temperature. For incident radiation doses below threshold, the collagen molecule remains in a triple helical state. Denaturation was determined by changes in the optical activity of the collagen solution.

As part of this dissertation, a novel instrument has been developed, tested and implemented to measure the effects of ultraviolet radiation on biopolymers, specifically the type-I collagen macromolecule. This instrument measures optical rotatory dispersion of chiral molecules and has the ability to detect changes of state through changes in optical activity. Optical activity is defined as the property, in which a molecule absorbs incident electromagnetic radiation in a specific polarization state and/or changes its polarization state. Optical rotatory dispersion refers to the physical property of a material that exhibits a difference in its index of refraction for right-handed or left-handed circularly polarized light. The advantage of this instrument is that it enables a real-time measurement of the optical activity of chiral macromolecules while exposing samples to ultraviolet radiation, and requiring no special sample preparation techniques. As such, it is expected to find wide-ranging applications in medical diagnosis and biomedical research.