Induction of genetic recombination: Consequences and model systems

✍ Scribed by George R. Hoffmann

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 783 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0893-6692
• DOI: 10.1002/em.2850230614

✦ Synopsis

Radiation and many chemicals have been found to induce homologous genetic recombination. Experimental systems that allow the detection and characterization of recombinagens exist in organisms as diverse as bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, and mammals. Recombination plays an important role in many biological processes, and studies of recombinagens can provide insight into underlying mechanisms. Studies of recombinagens are also of applied interest in genetic toxicology, because recombinational events in somatic cells can contribute to human disease. Clear connections have been established between mitotic recombination and the etiology of some cancers. This article briefly reviews two aspects of the induction of genetic recombination by radiation and chemicals-the health implications of recombinagenic effects and assays for detecting recombinagens.