Approaches to the Study of the Sequential Events Governing the Induction and Fixation of Genotoxic Events: An Overview

Two general approaches to research in the field of toxicology are discussed and. their merits evaluated relative to the elucidation of those parameters which may play an im-portant role on the extrapolation of animal data to human health effects. A number of these parameters are discussed relative to the ability to maintain fidelity of genetic infor-mation. APPROACHES TO TOXICOLOGY WING SYSTEMS are continuously exposed to a wide variety of agents which may damage their L DNA. This damage has been implicated in carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, and aging, and repair of these lesions is considered an ameliorating factor for these effects. In order to rationally evaluate en-vironmental health effects, it is important to examine the induction of DNA damage and its subse-quent repair in vivo. Since we cannot use humans for these studies, animal and cell models are selected as alternatives. In order to extrapolate from animal data to human health effects, it is neces-sary to study the differences between species relative to the induction, repair and replication of DNA damage. There are two basic paradigms for research on the action and effect of toxic substances. One