A text on cytogenetic tests for mutagens and carcinogens. “Cytogenetic Assays of Environmental Mutagens,” T.C. Hsu (ed). Totowa, New Jersey: Allanheld, Osmun & Co., Publishers, 1982, 430 pp, $45.00
✍ Scribed by Galloway, Sheila M.
- Book ID
- 102188932
- Publisher
- Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
- Year
- 1983
- Weight
- 152 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0192-2521
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Cytogenetic studies are adaptable to testing for both mutagenic and carcinogenic potential in many species and tissues. In this book T.C. Hsu has collected 19 chapters on the development of various assays and results that have been obtained. Methods are presented in sufficient technical detail for readers to attempt to perform the tests.
T.C. Hsu gives a refreshingly simple description of chromosome aberrations and their derivations. Because analysis of aberrations requires skill and experience, he warns of the necessity for thorough training but also points out the difference between requirements for mutagenicity screening and for research. R.B. Painter's brief overview of DNA repair presents simply what to devotees of the Coplin jar can be baffling biochemistry. Only the last two paragraphs describe the relation of repair to chromosome effects, but sister chromatid exchange (SCE) is shown not to be a direct manifestation of a known repair process.
S. Latt et a1 give a thorough review of SCEs. The utility of the SCE test is well justified and backed up by large tables of data; the drawbacks are also considered. B.A. Kihlman describes the application of SCE methods to plant material. Plant cells have not been used to test a wide variety of chemicals or to examine baseline variation and are not yet useful as a test system. M.E. Gaulden writes persuasively on insect cytogenetics, although mosquitos, blowflies, and cockroaches might deal a death blow to the popularity of the researcher whose colleagues already resent fruit flies floating around their labs! Little information exists on the use of insects for clastogenicity studies. Even if insect cells could be used to test pesticides, interpretation of the results into hazard assessment for man is not clear. The SCE test in avian embryos, described clearly by S.E. Bloom, has a reasonably large "data base," and early embryos can efficiently activate promutagens. This test has clear applications. such as assessing effects of environmental pollution in birds or of feed chemicals and antibiotics in poultry. Preliminary tests show no difference in SCE rates between gull chicks from polluted and "clean" areas, but further results will be most interesting. A. Kligerman's paper on fish completes the SCE series. Fish can activate certain chemicals, and increases in SCE can be detected in the tissues after addition of chemicals to fish tanks. Few compounds have been tested, but the technique should be applicable to environmental assessment.
K.E. Buckton and H.J. Evans summarize recent work on tests in human lymphocytes and give a useful table of data for over 100 chemicals. Results from human cells carry considerable weight, but the lymphocyte system is complex because of donor variability and the heterogeneity of lymphocyte populations. W. Au and T.C. Hsu describe a rapid screening assay for aberrations in CHO cells. Their protocol is controversial: The fixation times may not be optimal, and their "rule of thumb" for data analysis may be misleading because it does not take into account the fact that the statistical significance of increases in aberrations depends on the background level.