Jw. Bickham et Mj. Smolen, SOMATIC AND HERITABLE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL GENOTOXINS AND THE EMERGENCE OF EVOLUTIONARY TOXICOLOGY, Environmental health perspectives, 102, 1994, pp. 25-28
The genetic effects of environmental pollutants include mutations in s
omatic cells or germinal cells that are the direct result of exposure
to toxicants. Biomarkers that detect such mutagenic effects have been
developed and tested in field studies on wildlife populations. However
, another class of genetic effects resulting from pollution exposure e
xists. Specifically, changes in allele frequencies of populations will
occur as a result of population bottlenecks, inbreeding, or selection
at loci critical for survival in polluted environments. We describe h
ow such genetic alterations can be studied at the population level usi
ng the techniques of molecular genetics, and we predict the developmen
t of a new field, evolutionary toxicology, that will address such issu
es.