The gamma-irradiation induced stepwise genesis of dimer, trimer, tetramer, and higher agglomerates in 1% ovalbumin aqueous solution was quantitatively followed by a SDS-PAGE analytical method. The molecular mass distributions obtained in the dose interval form 0 to 2 kGy were used to calculate the gel dose by using Good's theory of cascade processes. The difference between the calculated value (3.5 kGy) and the measured value (8.5 kGy) is attributed to the competition between the agglomeration and the interradical conversion processes, which prevails in the higher dose region. It was estimated from the gel dose that 1 (.) 10(20) of intermolecular bonds per dm(3) were necessary to form a gel from 1% ovalbumin solution. A dynamic viscosity of the solution was also measured simultaneously. A simple semiempirical equation was developed eta/eta 0 = exp(-D/Dg)/1-D/Dg containing only one parameter-gel dose, D-g-and it fits the viscosity-dose data fairly well.