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It is delightful but humbling to find my face at the start of these
Proceedings--there are innumerable other faces which could equally
weIl stand there, from among the band who have fore gathered at
every gerontology conference since the subject was launched in its
present form; but I deeply appreciate being there. Gerontology d.
id not grow by accident. Its present standing is the fruit of
careful planning, undertaken by European and American scientists
back in the 1950's. In those days it was still a "fringe" science,
and the conspirators had much the standing of the 1920's
Interplanetary Society. The United States itself is the offspring
of conspiracy, for when the results of conspiracy are beneficent,
the conspirators become Founding Fathers. This has been the case
with gerontology. The present meeting is especially gratifying
because the papers have been recitals of normal, hard-science
investigation. We had to get through the rigors of a long period of
semantic argument and a long period of one-shot general theories
before this kind of meeting, normal in all other research fields,
could take place. It was also necesssary to breed in the menagerie
a generation of excellent investigators aware of the theoretical
background but unintimidated by it, who share our conviction that
human aging is comprehensible and probably controllable, and who go
into the laboratory to attack specifics."
This symposium is the third in a series featuring the propaga tion
of higher plants through tissue culture. The first of these
symposia, entitled "A Bridge Between Research and Application," was
held at the University in 1978 and was published by the Technical
Information Center, Department of Energy. The second symposium, on
"Emerging Technologies and Strategies," was held in 1980 and pub
lished as a special issue of Environmental and Experimental Botany.
One of the aims of these symposia was to examine the current state
of-the-art in tissue culture technology and to relate this state of
technology to practical, applied, and commercial interests. Thus,
the third of this series on development and variation focused on
embryogenesis in culture: how to recognize it, factors which affect
embryogenesis, use of embryogenic systems, etc.; and variability
from culture. A special session on woody species again emphasized
somatic embryogenesis as a means of rapid propagation. This volume
emphasizes tissue culture of forest trees. All of these areas, we
feel, are breakthrough areas in which significant progress is
expected in the next few years."
It is delightful but humbling to find my face at the start of these
Proceedings--there are innumerable other faces which could equally
weIl stand there, from among the band who have fore gathered at
every gerontology conference since the subject was launched in its
present form; but I deeply appreciate being there. Gerontology d.
id not grow by accident. Its present standing is the fruit of
careful planning, undertaken by European and American scientists
back in the 1950's. In those days it was still a "fringe" science,
and the conspirators had much the standing of the 1920's
Interplanetary Society. The United States itself is the offspring
of conspiracy, for when the results of conspiracy are beneficent,
the conspirators become Founding Fathers. This has been the case
with gerontology. The present meeting is especially gratifying
because the papers have been recitals of normal, hard-science
investigation. We had to get through the rigors of a long period of
semantic argument and a long period of one-shot general theories
before this kind of meeting, normal in all other research fields,
could take place. It was also necesssary to breed in the menagerie
a generation of excellent investigators aware of the theoretical
background but unintimidated by it, who share our conviction that
human aging is comprehensible and probably controllable, and who go
into the laboratory to attack specifics."
Gilbert S. Omenn Dean, Public Health and Community Medicine
University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195 On behalf of the
University of Washington, the City of Seattle, the sponsors and
donors, and my co-organizers, I am delighted to welcome all of you
to this Conference on Genetic Control of Environ mental Pollutants.
My only regret is that Dr. Alexander Hollaender, who has inspired
so many of us as young scientists and stimulated so many
trail-blazing conferences in environmental sciences and in gen etic
engineering, is ill and was unable to make the trip to Seattle. He
sends his warm good wishes for an outstanding meeting and a fine
volume. The purpose of this Conference is to identify and assess
strat egies for more effectively and safely managing wastes and
toxic sub stances in the environment, in part through use of
genetically engi neered microorganisms. There is a sense of
desperation in our soci ety that modern technologies have
introduced a bewildering array of potential hazards to human health
and to our environment. There is an accompanying sense of
frustration that our prodigious basic re search capabilities and
our technological ingenuity have not yielded practical ways to
control many pollutants and waste streams, or- better still--to
convert them to useful products.
This symposium is the third in a series featuring the propaga tion
of higher plants through tissue culture. The first of these
symposia, entitled "A Bridge Between Research and Application," was
held at the University in 1978 and was published by the Technical
Information Center, Department of Energy. The second symposium, on
"Emerging Technologies and Strategies," was held in 1980 and pub
lished as a special issue of Environmental and Experimental Botany.
One of the aims of these symposia was to examine the current state
of-the-art in tissue culture technology and to relate this state of
technology to practical, applied, and commercial interests. Thus,
the third of this series on development and variation focused on
embryogenesis in culture: how to recognize it, factors which affect
embryogenesis, use of embryogenic systems, etc.; and variability
from culture. A special session on woody species again emphasized
somatic embryogenesis as a means of rapid propagation. This volume
emphasizes tissue culture of forest trees. All of these areas, we
feel, are breakthrough areas in which significant progress is
expected in the next few years."
William C. Taylor Department of Genetics University of California
Berkeley, California 94720 It is evident by now that there is a
great deal of interest in exploiting the new technologies to
genetically engineer new forms of plants. A purpose of this meeting
is to assess the possibilities. The papers that follow are
concerned with the analysis of single genes or small gene families.
We will read about genes found within the nucleus, plastids, and
bacteria which are responsible for agri culturally important
traits. Given that these genes can be isolated by recombinant DNA
techniques, there are two possible strategies for plant
engineering. One involves isolating a gene from a cultivated plant,
changing it in a specific way and then inserting it back into the
same plant where it produces an altered gene product. An example
might be changing the amino acid composition of a seed pro tein so
as to make the seed a more efficient food source. A second strategy
is to isolate a gene from one species and transfer it to another
species where it produces a desirable feature. An example might be
the transfer of a gene which encodes a more efficient pho
tosynthetic enzyme from a wild relative into a cultivated species.
There are three technical hurdles which must be overcome for either
strategy to work. The gene of interest must be physically isolated.
There is a time in scientific research when a number of
developments coincide making it possible to progress with a tough
and complicated problem. It is believed that such a time has come
in the area of biological nitrogen fixation. A better understanding
of photosynthesis, cell hybridization, plasmid, and gene transfer
between cells not necessarily genetically related, have opened new
avenues of research. New developments in traditional genetics, cell
biology, biochemistry, including enzyme chemistry, and plant physi
ology have brought about the feeling this is a most appro priate
time to pull together the different approaches in a conference
where the lines of research could be discussed and thus help to
speed up developments in this area. What makes biological nitrogen
fixation especially im portant is the promise that a good
understanding of the basic problem would help us to make organisms
more amenable to fix nitrogen, not only in symbiosis with legumes,
but also with other plant species and develop a wider variety of
organisms with the ability to fix N * It will also 2 encourage a
search for naturally occurring N2 fixing organ isms other than the
traditional N2 fixers. Some success has already been encountered in
this area. Success in broadening the field of nitrogen fixing would
help to increase food supply, especially in de veloping countries
which cannot afford to purchase synthetic nitrogen sources.
In August. 1982. a conference was held at the University of Califor
nia. Davis. to discuss both molecular and traditional approaches to
plant genetic analysis and plant breeding. Papers presented at the
meeting were published in Genetic Engineering of Plants: An
Agricultural Perspective. A second conference. entitled "Tailoring
Genes for Crop Improvement." spon sored by the UC-Davis College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College's
Biotechnology Program. was held at Davis in August. 1986. to
discuss the notable advances that had been made during the
intervening years in the technology for gene modification.
transfer. and expression in plants. This volume contains papers
that were presented at this meeting and provides readers with
examples of how the new experimental strategies are being used to
gain a clearer understanding of the biology of the plants we grow
for food and fiber; it also discusses how molecular biology
approaches are being used to introduce new genes into plants for
plant breeding programs. We are grateful to the speakers for their
excellent presentations for the conference and extend our sincere
thanks to those who contributed manuscripts for this volume."
Delbert M. Shankel Departments of }1icrobiology and Biochemistry
The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045 Welcome to the
"International Conference on Mecha. nisms of Antimutagen- esis and
Anticarcinogenesis. " We are delighted that so many of you have
chosen to attend this first meeting on this important topic. The
significance of genetic changes in cells has been recognized for
many years. The seminal observations of Henri in 1914 (UV), Muller
in 1927 (X-rays), and Auerbach in 1946 (chemical agents)
established the fact that physical and chemical agents which may be
present in our environment are capable of producing profound
changes in heredity. It is now well-estab- lished, of course, that
such changes can result in the development of can- cer, produce
hereditary birth defects, alter microorganisms to cause drug
resistance, or other harmful (or even beneficial) changes; it is
likely that the processes of mutagenesis and the intricate balance
between muta- genesis and antimutagenesis are involved in aging,
evolution, and other fundamental life processe8. Consequently, we
hope and believe that assem- bling thi. s group of scientists to
share current fundamental and applied research in these areas will
lead to a better understanding of these proc- esses and to
long-term benefits for society. As stated clearly by Garfield (4),
"Almost every aspect of modern liv- ing exposes us to health risks.
The normal course of most biologically catalyzed processes is
tightly regulated at the genetic and physiological levels. The
regulatory mechanisms are diverse, sometimes redundant, and it is
becoming increasingly apparent that, at the genetic level, the
range of mechanisms may be limited only by the permutations and
combina tions available. For each microbial cell, evolution appears
to have resulted in maximized advantage to that cell, achieving
regulatory balance. Genetic engineering encompasses our attempts to
perturb the genetic regulation of a cell so that we may obtain
desired other than normal outcomes, such as increased product
formation, or new product formation. Following the groundwork
established by a preceding symposium (Trends in the Biology of
Fermentations for Fuels and Chemicals, Brookhaven National
Laboratory, December 1980), the initial planning for this
conference envisioned the juxtaposition of molecular genetic
expertise and microbial biochemical expertise. The resultant
interaction should encourage new and extended ideas for the improve
ment of strains and for the generation of new regulatory combina
tions to enhance microbial chemical production from cheap and
abundant (including waste) substrates. The interaction should also
demonstrate that new discoveries at the basic level remain
essential to progress in genetic engineering. New genetic
regulatory combina tions require new studies of physiology and
biochemistry to assure understanding and control of the system. New
biochemical reactions necessitate new studies of genetic and
regulatory interaction."
The best protection against environmental mutagens is to identify
them before they ever come into general use. But it is always
possible that some substance will escape detection and affect a
large number of persons without this being realized until later
generations. This article considers ways in which such a genetic
emergency might be promptly detected. A mutation-detecting system
should be relevant in that it tests for effects that are as closely
related as possible to those that are feared. It should be
sensitive enough to detect a moderate increase in mutation rate,
able to discover the increase promptly before more damage is done,
responsive to various kinds of mutational events, and designed in
such a way as to maxi mize the probability that the Gause of an
increase can be found. Methods based on germinal mutation
necessarily involve enormous numbers of persons and tests. On the
other hand, with somatic mutations the individual cell becomes the
unit of measurement rather than the in dividual person. For this
reason, I think that somatic tests are preferable to germinal
tests, despite the fact that it is germinal mutations which are
feared.
The growing concern about where energy rich chemicals for the
future will come from has stimulated a resurgence of interest in
the potentialities of microbial fermentations to assist in meeting
anti cipated demands for fuels and chemicals. While much attention
has been given recently to the early deployment of alcohol
production plants and similar currently available technologies, the
potential future developments have received much less attention.
One of the intentions of the present symposium was to look ahead
and try to perceive some of the prospects for future fermentation
technology. In order to accomplish this, a symposium program of
sizable diversity was developed with workers giving a
representative cross section of their particular specialty as an
indicator of the status of basic information in their area. In
addition, an attempt was made to elicit from the various
participants the types of fundamental infor mation which should be
generated in the coming years to enable new fermentation technology
to proceed expeditiously. In organizing the symposium particular
effort was made to involve workers from the academic, industrial
and governmental scientific communities."
Allen I. Laskin Biosciences Research Exxon Research and Engineering
Company Linden, New Jersey I was contacted in the Fall of 1981 by
Professors Martin Dworkin and Palmer Rogers, of the University of
Minnesota and asked to participate in the orgnization of the 1983
conference in the series, "Interface Between Biology and Medicine."
They and the other members of the advisory committee had the vision
to realize that this was a time to depart somewhat from the
traditional theme, since one of the major areas of interest in the
biological and related sciences these days is that of biotechnology
in a broader sense than its impact on medicine alone. In designing
the format of the Conference, we considered another factor. There
has been a plethora of conferences, symposia, and meetings on
biotechnology over the past few years, and the faces and topics
have become rather familiar. There has been a strong emphasis on
the development of the technology and the "biotechnology industry";
less attention has been paid to the science behind it. One might
get the impression from some of these meetings and from the popular
press that biotechnology has just recently sprung up, apparently
full blown; the very fundamental scientific discoveries and the
great body of 1 ALLEN I. LASKIN 2 continuing research that forms
that basis for the technology is often obscured.
This volume is the first of a series concerning a new tech nology
which is revolutionizing the study of biology, perhaps as
profoundly as the discovery of the gene. As pointed out in the
introductory chapter, we look forward to the future impact of the
technology, but cannot see where it might take us. The purpose of
these volumes is to follow closely the explosion of new tech niques
and information that is occurring as a result of the newly acquired
ability to make particular kinds of precise cuts in DNA molecules.
Thus we are particularly committed to rapid publication. Jane K.
Setlow Alexander Hollaender v INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND 1 Maxine F. Singer CLONING OF DOUBLE-STRANDED cDNA . .
15 Argiris Efstratiadis and Lydia Vi11a-Komaroff GENE ENRICHMENT .
. . . . . . 37 M. H. Edgell, S. Weaver, Nancy Haigwood and C. A.
Hutchison III 51 TRANSFORMATION OF MAMMALIAN CELLS . . . . . M.
Wig1er, A. Pe11icer, R. Axel and S. Silverstein CONSTRUCTED MUTANTS
OF SIMIAN VIRUS 40 73 D. Short1e, J. Pipas, Sondra Lazarowitz, D.
DiMaio and D. Nathans STRUCTURE OF CLONED GENES FROM XENOPUS: A
REVIEW 93 R. H. Reeder TRANSFORMATION OF YEAST 117 Christine lIgen,
P. J. Farabaugh, A. Hinnen, Jean M. Walsh and G. R. Fink THE USE OF
SITE-DIRECTED MUTAGENESIS IN REVERSED GENETICS 133 C. Weissmann, S.
Nagata, T. Taniguchi, H. Weber and F. Meyer AGROBACTERIUM TUMOR
INDUCING PLASMIDS: POTENTIAL VECTORS FOR THE GENETIC ENGINEERING OF
PLANTS . 151 P. J. J. Hooykaas, R. A. Schi1peroort and A."
The best protection against environmental mutagens is to identify
them before they ever come into general use. But it is always
possible that some substance will escape detection and affect a
large number of persons without this being realized until later
generations. This article considers ways in which such a genetic
emergency might be promptly detected. A mutation-detecting system
should be relevant in that it tests for effects that are as closely
related as possible to those that are feared. It should be
sensitive enough to detect a moderate increase in mutation rate,
able to discover the increase promptly before more damage is done,
responsive to various kinds of mutational events, and designed in
such a way as to maxi- mize the probability that the Gause of an
increase can be found. Methods based on germinal mutation
necessarily involve enormous numbers of persons and tests. On the
other hand, with somatic mutations the individual cell becomes the
unit of measurement rather than the in- dividual person. For this
reason, I think that somatic tests are preferable to germinal
tests, despite the fact that it is germinal mutations which are
feared.
The ready acceptance and wide demand for copies of the first two
volumes of Chemical Mutagens: Principles and Methods Jar Their
Detection have demon strated the need for wider dissemination of
information on this timely and urgent subject. Therefore, it was
imperative that a third volume be prepared to include more detailed
discussions on techniques of some of the methods that were
presented from a theoretical point of view in the first two
volumes, and to update this rapidly expanding field with current
findings and the new developments that have taken place in the past
three years. Also included is a special chapter by Dr. Charlotte
Auerbach giving the historical background of the discovery of
chemical mutagenesis. Methods for recognizing mutagenic compounds
in vitro are a necessary preliminary step toward arriving at
satisfactory solutions for recognizing significant mutation rates
in man, which must be done before our test tube methods of
detection can be considered reliable. Two chapters in this volume
make important contributions to this problem. Due to the increasing
activity in efforts to perfect techniques for detecting chemical
mutagens and their effects on man, it is planned to continue this
series of volumes as necessary to keep abreast of current findings.
As editor I want especially to thank Dr. Ernst Freese for helpful
co operation in preparing these volumes, and to express my
appreclatlOn to Drs. Kurt Hirschhorn and Marvin Legator, the other
members of the editorial board. Alexander Hollaender January 1971
Preface The purpose of these volumes is to encourage the
development and ap plication of testing and monitoring procedures
to avert significant human exposure to mutagenic agents. The need
for protection against exposure to possibly mutagenic chemicals is
only now coming to be generally realized. The recently issued
Report of the Secretary's Commission on Pesticides and Their
Possible Effects on Health (the Mrak Report-U.S. Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, December 1969) has made an important
start. Its Panel on Mutagenicity recommends that all currently used
pesticides be tested for mutagenicity in several recently developed
and relatively simple systems. Whether recommendations such as
these are actually put into effect will depend on convincing
government, industry, and the public that the problem is important,
that the proposed tests would be effective, and that they can be
conducted at a cost that is not prohibitive. Why is it important to
screen environmental agents for mutagenic activity? To those who
will read this book, the answer is self-evident. The sine qua non
of all that we value and all that we are is our genetic heritage.
There are many areas on this world which might lend themselves to
agricultural development and which are, at the present, not used
for this purpose. Two of the most obvious are desert areas where
the salt concentration is very high, both land and water areas.
With the development of new approaches and careful research,
considerably more productive capability could be developed in
these. This volume points out some of the possible approaches as
well as results ob tained by a combination of creative research,
practical understanding of the problems involved and inventive ways
to overcome some of the handicaps of utilizing biosaline areas.
This volume grew out of the "International Workshop on Biosaline
Research" organized by Mr. Gilbert Devey of the Division of Interna
tional programs of the National Science Foundation and directed by
Dr. Anthony San Pietro of the Department of Biology of Indiana Uni
versity. Since the proceedings of the workshop appeared somewhat
limited, it was thought to broaden the spectra of chapters and in
clude several topics briefly discussed at the Kiawah workshop."
Volume 9 of Chemical Mutagens consists mainly of chapters
discussing the development and validation of short-term assays to
detect the mutagenic effects of environmental chemicals. These
chapters include an assay with the grasshopper neuroblast, a
comparison of mutagenic responses of human lung-derived and
skin-derived diploid fibroblasts, a forward-mutation assay in
Salmonella, a multigene sporulation test in Bacillus subtilis, a
specific locus assay in mouse lymphoma cells, a study of the
induction of bacteriophage lambda, and the granuloma pouch assay.
In addition, there are two chapters on the identification of
mutagens in cooked food and in human feces. Frederick 1. de Serres
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina vii Contents Chapter 1 The
Grasshopper Neuroblast Short-Term Assay for Evaluating the Effects
of Environmental Chemicals on Chromosomes and Cell Kinetics 1 Mary
Esther Gaulden, Jan C. Liang, and Martha J. Ferguson 1.
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 1 2. Embryo Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. 1. Species. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2. 2.
Origin of Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 4 2. 3. Life Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. 4. Colony Maintenance . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. 5. Pathology . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. 6. Allergy
to Grasshoppers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3.
Grasshopper Egg, Embryo, and Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 14 3. 1. The Egg Shell and Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 14 3. 2. Embryonic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 17 3. 3. Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4. Methods . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.
1. Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 26 4. 2. Preparation of Embryos for Cell Analysis . . .
. . . . . . 34 4. 3. Analysis of Mutagen Effects. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 40 . . . 5. Response of the Grasshopper Neuroblast to
Mutagens . . . . 50 5. 1. Reproducibility of Data . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 5. 2. Radiation. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 5. 3. Chemical
Mutagens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Additional Editors Are Arthur W. Pollister And Lewis J. Stadler.
Contributing Authors Include Robert Livingston, L. J. Buttolph, J.
A. Sanderson And Others.
Additional Editors Are Hermann J. Muller And Lauriston S. Taylor.
Contributing Authors Include Ugo Fano, L. D. Marinelli, L. S.
Taylor And Others.
Contributing Authors Include Rufus Lumry, Henry Eyring, John R.
Platt And Others.
Additional Editors Are Hermann J. Muller And Lauriston S. Taylor.
Contributing Authors Include Ugo Fano, L. D. Marinelli, L. S.
Taylor And Others.
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