Bionet.Toxicology September Discussion Topic:
Heritable Diseases and Toxicology
Hereditable diseases and their relevance to the discipline of toxicology is
the subject of a recent special issue of Environmental and Molecular
Mutagenesis (vol. 25, supplement 26, 1995 -- copies of this special issue
are available from Wiley-Liss Publishing). The contents of this issue serve
as a background for our September discussion topic. Discussion participants
can send e-mail comments to toxicol at net.bio.net.
Some questions I propose for group discussion are:
1. What is the actual impact of toxic agents on human hereditary diseases,
especially diseases other than cancers?
2. What, if any, are the best tests to identify the genotoxic potential of
such agents?
--and-- Given what we know about the multitude of factors that determine
toxicity, is there any point in attempting to develop a "universal"
genotoxicity test?
3. Some calculations suggest that human male germ cells have about a
10-fold greater mutation rate than female germ cells. Do you agree? Should
we focus our efforts to find ways of protecting germ cells from acquiring
heritable mutations?
4. Given the present and future emphasis on genome sequencing and analysis,
should we train toxicology students to be more facile in genetics?
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For those interested, here are the topics covered in the special issue:
Preface
Errol Zeiger
Mutagenesis and Human Genetic Disease: An Introduction
Vicki L. Dellarco, Robert P. Erickson, Susan E. Lewis, and Michael D.
Shelby
The New Human Genetics
Robert P. Erickson and Susan E. Lewis
Uniparental Disomy and Genomic Imprinting as Causes of Human Genetic
Disease
Suzanne B. Cassidy
Mosaicism: The Embryo as a Target for Induction of Mutations Leading to
Cancer and Genetic Disease
Harvey Mohrenweiser and Barbara Zingg
Mitochondrial Mutations and Human Disease
Lawrence I Grossman
Etiology of Nondisjunction in Humans
Michael A. Abruzzo and Terry J. Hassold
Biological Basis of Germline Mutation: Comparisons of Spontaneous
Germline Mutation Rates Among Drosophila, Mouse and Human
Joni B. Drost and William R. Lee
Population Genetics of Induced Mutations
D.P. Lovell
Lessons Learned from Epidemiological Studies of Environmental Exposure
and Genetic Disease
Andrew F. Olshan
Mutagenesis and Human Genetic Disease: Dominant Mutation Frequencies and
a Characterization of Mutational Events in Mice and Humans
Jack Favor
Perspectives on Molecular Assays for Measuring Mutation in Human and
Rodents
J. G. Burkhart
Influence of Heredity on Human Sensitivity to Environmental Chemicals
Wendell W. Weber
Dr. Charles A. Miller, rellim at mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu
Bionet.Toxicology News Group Discussion Leader
Dept. Environmental Health Sciences
Rm. 374, Center for Bioenvironmental Research
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Tulane University Medical Center
1430 Tulane Ave. Box SL29
New Orleans, LA 70112
Ph. 504-585-6942, Fx. 504-585-6939
