CURRENT ISSUES IN MUTAGENESIS AND CARCINOGENESIS .70. DETECTION OF ANEUPLOIDY IN HUMAN AND RODENT SPERM USING FISH AND APPLICATIONS OF SPERM ASSAYS OF GENETIC-DAMAGE IN HERITABLE RISK-EVALUATION

Efficient molecular methods are being developed for detecting various types of cytogenetic genetic damage in sperm, especially numerical ane uploidy for chromosomes involved in trisomies that survive at birth Th ese methods provide new approaches for identifying potentially detrime ntal environmental exposures, genetic predisposition, chromosomal rear rangements, and physiologic factors which may increase a man's risk of fathering a genetically defective offspring. Corollary methods are al so being developed for detecting sperm aneuploidy in laboratory rodent s and these will be used to make inter-species comparisons of mutagen sensitivities and for investigating mechanisms of induction and persis tence of aneuploidy. Validated assays for detecting genetic alteration s in human and rodent sperm (of which sperm aneuploidy is a first exam ple) permit comparisons of somatic and germinal response to mutagens w ithin individuals, comparisons of human and rodent germinal sensitivit y to mutagens, and can be applied in an extended parallelogram model t o sperm for assessing heritable risk resulting from paternal mutagen e xposures.