Molecular Environmental Biology

Book excerpt: Molecular Environmental Biology is the first book to illustrate molecular biological approaches to major issues in environmental biology. International experts have contributed representative chapters that cover how molecular methods and concepts apply to wildlife management, ecology, pollution control and remediation, and environmental health. Specific topics discussed include the use of molecular techniques in the population biology of wild animals and in the management of fisheries, bioremediation, cloning and characterization of the genes responsible for degradation of PCBs and related environmental pollutants, molecular analysis of aromatic hydrocarbon degradation by soil bacteria, and molecular biological techniques in assessing environmental damage to natural habitats. The book also explores how new molecular approaches can be applied to human disease etiology and epidemiology. Topics discussed in this area include an introduction to molecular epidemiology, the uses of molecular biological markers in cancer risk assessment, specific environmental carcinogens found in foods, measuring DNA adducts and mutation frequencies to assess environmental toxic exposures and effect, and using the extent of gene inducibility as a dosimeter of toxic exposure. This book will interest researchers and students in all fields of environmental biology and environmental medicine. Readers will find information on new techniques and applications of established molecular methodology that will stimulate new research ideas, collaborations, and progress. Researchers will now have a chance to make rapid progress on environmental questions that were previously not even open for exploration.