Richard C. Willson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, UH Damage to DNA is strongly correlated to cancer in humans. A simple, rapid, and sensitive method is being developed for measuring DNA-damaging activity in process streams and waste site samples. Like the well known Ames test, this assay uses bacterial cells which have lost some normal function due to mutation. Mutagenic compounds can be detected because they increase the rate at which reverse mutations occur which restore normal function. In this case, the lost function is light production by a luminescent bacterium.
Reverse mutations result in the production of light and can be detected with remarkable sensitivity.
This test could be performed in Sited and would reduce the generation of Petri plates contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals. A rapid in situ assay for mutagens would contribute to risk assessment and pollution prevention and reduce the misclassification of benign materials as hazardous waste. Multiple toxicities of mixtures of heavy metals are strongly affected by the types and concentrations of metals involved and prevailing environmental conditions Little is known about the sublethal effects of these mixtures on coastal marine life. UH A major challenge under the Clean Air Act is the reduction of NO x pollution. Chemical reactions that ultimately lead to the formation of NO x in the exhaust of combustion engines and permeate the atmosphere after emission also produce energized HCN molecules.