alkylating agents such as ethyl methanesulfonate (ems) function as mutagens to dna.
alkylating agents such as ethyl methanesulfonate (ems) function as mutagens to dna.
alkylating agents such as ethyl methanesulfonate (ems) function as mutagens to?
dna
samson specializes in human dna repair. specifically, her lab's goal is to "understand the biology, the biochemistry, and the genetics of numerous dna repair pathways that act upon dna alkylation damage." this is applicable to human cancer research, because alkylating agents are used extensively in chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. she is researching "how eukaryotic cells respond to alkylating agents." alkylating agents are drugs which work by replacing a hydrogen with an alkyl group, with the end result being dna damage. alkylating agents inhibit protein synthesis and damages rapidly dividing cells, among which cancer cells are primarily affected because they divide so rapidly. she measures cells' ability to resist the toxicity caused by dna-damaging agents, like alkylating agents.
leona d. samson
high rates of chromosome aberrations resulting from ionizing radiation and the accompanied detrimental effects made researchers look for alternate sources for inducing mutations. as a result, an array of chemical mutagens has been discovered. the most widely used chemical mutagens are alkylating agents. ethyl methanesulfonate (ems) is the most popular because of its effectiveness and ease of handling, especially its detoxification through hydrolysis for disposal. nitroso compounds are the other alkylating agents widely used, but they are light-sensitive and more precautions need to be taken because of their higher volatility. ems has become a commonly used mutagen for developing large numbers of mutants for screening such as in developing tilling populations. although many chemicals are mutagens, only few have been used in practical breeding as the doses need to be optimised and also because the effectiveness is not high in plants for many.
mutation breeding