In order to quickly assess potential environmental hazards of forwardly deployed military bases, we are focusing our efforts on biochemical and molecular changes in vertebrate cells following exposure to aqueous soil extracts. To this end, we are designing a series of deployable transgenic fish. Fish exhibit many of the same general defenses against toxic chemicals as do mammals, including enzyme induction, and generation of oxidative stress.
Compounds tested include aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and organophosphates.
We observed similar dose-dependent responses when we treated ZEM2S and human cells in vitro with identical aqueous extracts of soil from hazardous waste sites.