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The bacterial strains and mutagenicity test procedure developed by Bruce Ames, and published in 1973, greatly enhanced the ability of laboratories to test chemicals for mutagenicity. The test that became known as the "Ames Test" was simple to perform, took only two days, was relatively inexpensive, and was easily transferrable to other ...
- Overview
- Education and career
- The Ames test
- Later research
- Legacy and awards
Bruce Ames (born December 16, 1928, New York City, New York, U.S.) American biochemist and geneticist who developed the Ames test for chemical mutagens. The test, introduced in the 1970s, assessed the ability of chemicals to induce mutations in the bacterium Salmonella typhimurium. Because of its sensitivity to carcinogenic (cancer-causing) human-m...
Ames graduated from Cornell University in 1950, having earned a B.A. degree with a major in chemistry and a minor in biology. He then transferred to the biology department of the California Institute of Technology for his graduate studies. In 1953, after obtaining a Ph.D. in biochemistry, Ames moved to the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases (NIAMD; later the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases) in Maryland, where he was a public health service fellow. While there he conducted research to isolate enzymes and genes involved in the biosynthesis of the amino acid histidine. He used the bacterium Salmonella as his organism of study. In 1962 Ames transitioned into the NIAMD laboratory of molecular biology, where he later began work on what would become the Ames test.
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Ames remained at NIAMD until 1967, when he was appointed a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was later made professor emeritus. Over his long career at Berkeley, Ames chaired the department of biochemistry and molecular biology and acted as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center. He also was a professor at the Berkeley graduate school and a senior research scientist at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, California.
Ames owed much of his celebrity to the Ames test. The test targets chemical mutagens, the agents that tend to increase the frequency or extent of genetic mutation. The test was rapid and inexpensive, and thus it was more effective for initial mutagenicity screens than existing epidemiological surveys and animal tests. Since its development, the Ames test has been widely used to assess the mutagenic and carcinogenic risks of a large number of chemicals. The assessments have allowed scientists to determine whether various chemicals pose health risks to humans. Thanks to Ames’s analysis, certain synthetic chemicals that once were commonly used have been banned. Tris, or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, a flame retardant used in children’s sleepwear, was one of the most famous to be outlawed.
After developing the test, Ames collected data which showed that natural chemicals can be as carcinogenic as those manufactured in a laboratory. His findings prompted him to challenge the common wisdom that portrayed human-made chemicals as more dangerous than natural ones. Ames and colleagues claimed in a 2002 publication that a cup of coffee contained more than 1,000 chemicals. Only 30 of those chemicals had been investigated in animal cancer tests, 21 of which tested positive for mutagenicity. They concluded that there are more carcinogens in a cup of coffee than in a year’s exposure to pesticide residues. Chemicals of a carcinogenic nature had also been found in a number of other foods and beverages, including black table pepper, mushrooms, peanut butter, tea, and white bread.
Ames’s findings led him to denounce what he saw as environmentalists’ idyllic and romantic view of a past world that never existed. He challenged their views, describing them as antitechnology. He also opposed California Proposition 128 in 1990, which would have resulted in changes to state laws concerning the regulation of pesticides, and he criticized the proposed ban on Alar (daminozide), a plant growth regulator that had been used primarily for apples. (Alar is listed as a carcinogen in California, but it and its metabolite, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine [UDMH], are considered probable carcinogens by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.)
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Although Ames did not completely rule out external factors in the development of cancer, he maintained that cancer is a degenerative disease of old age. The fact that cancer rates were rising in the latter part of the 20th century, Ames argued, was the result not of an increase in pollution but of the fact that people were living longer. These controversial views caused heated debates within the scientific community and made Ames the subject of media interest. He saw himself as a popularizer who was trying to prevent cancer rather than find a cure for it. Ames’s recipe for cancer prevention was as simple as it was provocative:
From the 1980s Ames focused part of his research on aging. He demonstrated that mitochondrial decay is a major contributor to aging and age-related degenerative diseases. He carried out a series of experiments with the aim of reversing mitochondrial decay and argued for a balanced intake of micronutrients in the population to prevent disease and co...
The underlying factor in Ames’s research and the main source of his controversial character was his unabashed faith in the progress of science and technology. He was optimistic about scientific research and about scientists’ ability to understand cancer.
Ames received numerous awards for his environmental and scientific achievements. Among them were the 1985 Tyler Prize, the 1983 General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Prize, and the 1998 National Medal of Science. He was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1972 and was a member of the board of directors of the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board from 1976 to 1982.
The Ames test is a widely employed method that uses bacteria to test whether a given chemical can cause mutations in the DNA of the test organism. More formally, it is a biological assay to assess the mutagenic potential of chemical compounds. [1] A positive test indicates that the chemical is mutagenic and therefore may act as a carcinogen ...
Aug 10, 2022 · Ames test it is a biological assay to assess the mutagenic potential of chemical compounds. It utilizes bacteria to test whether a given chemical can cause mutations in the DNA of the test organism. The test was developed by Bruce N. Ames in 1970s to determine if a chemical at hand is a mutagen.
Bruce Nathan Ames (born December 16, 1928) is a prominent American biochemist. He is a professor of biochemistry and Molecular Biology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a senior scientist at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). [2] Throughout his career, Dr. Ames has made significant contributions to ...
May 1, 2019 · The test also was backed by the scientific prestige and supporting publications from Bruce Ames’ lab. As an indication of the rapidity of acceptance of the new test, the 1969 Mrak commission report [ 7 ], which examined methods for testing pesticides for potential germ cell mutagenicity, recommended only 3 in vitro tests and otherwise ...
