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Biological Reactive Intermediates V pp 395–404Cite as

Role of Molecular Biology in Risk Assessment

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 387))

Abstract

Exposure to an ever-increasing number of man-made and natural environmental substances poses a health risk for the exposed individuals. To formulate public policy in order to protect the human population from the adverse effects of these agents, society needs first to gain an understanding of the mechanisms by which toxic agents compromise human health. In environmental health studies, the evaluation of risk results from a complex interplay of factors, including not only scientific components, but also socio-economic, ethical, legal, and geographical. As one of these scientific aspects, molecular biology has become an essential tool for the environmental toxicologist, because the rapidly-expanding advances in our understanding of biological processes at the molecular level have made it possible today to analyze problems that twenty years ago we could not even imagine existed. For example, the technology is now available to answer one of the most challenging questions that toxicologists face, namely: Are there genes that contribute to increased resistance (or sensitivity) to toxic environmental agents? Of course, the ultimate goal in this area of risk evaluation is not only to identify these genes, but to develop an understanding of how they function and how they affect human health; this is an eminently feasible goal with our current level of knowledge, given time and adequate resources. As more molecular biologists become attracted to the present challenges of toxicological research, we cannot but expect that many novel advances in molecular biology will be the result of our specific experimental demands, with the consequent opening of unpredictable new frontiers in environmental health research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Genetics and Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45267-0056, USA

    Alvaro Puga, Jana Micka, Ching-yi Chang, Hung-chi Liang & Daniel W. Nebert

Authors
  1. Alvaro Puga
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  2. Jana Micka
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  3. Ching-yi Chang
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  4. Hung-chi Liang
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  5. Daniel W. Nebert
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

    Robert Snyder  & Charlotte M. Witmer  & 

  2. University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona, USA

    I. Glenn Sipes

  3. Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

    David J. Jollow

  4. University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA

    Terrence J. Monks

  5. Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    James J. Kocsis  & George F. Kalf  & 

  6. GSF Institute of Toxicology, Technical University, Munich, Germany

    Helmut Greim

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Puga, A., Micka, J., Chang, Cy., Liang, Hc., Nebert, D.W. (1996). Role of Molecular Biology in Risk Assessment. In: Snyder, R., et al. Biological Reactive Intermediates V. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 387. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9480-9_48

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9480-9_48

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9482-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9480-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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