Chromosomes, being well-defined structures that are easily vis- ible under the optical microscope, readily lend themselves to in- tense physical and biochemical study. The understanding of the structure and function of this most critical genetic material has progressed through a number of interesting stages. Often connected with the development of new techniques in staining and photography, using the standard microscope and the electron microscope. It is interesting to look back at the history of cytogenetics. I would like especially to emphasize the work of Karl Sax and many of his students....

Physical and chemical agents in the environment damage the DNA of humans, and pose a major threat to human health today, and to the genetic integrity of human populations. Although studies on isolated DNA in vitro, on prokaryotes, on mammalian cells in culture, and on laboratory animals have provided essential background information, it is now possible to study DNA damage and repair in human tissues directly. New techniques of high sensitivity, especially those not requiring radioactive labeling have made possible quantitation of DNA damage and repair, as well as detection of residual,...

This book is the compilation of papers presented at the International Symposium on in vivo Body Composition Studies, held at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 20 - 23, 1989. The purpose of this conference was to report on advances in techniques for the in vivo measurement of body composition and to present recent data on normal body composition and changes during disease. This conference was the most recent of several meetings on body composition studies, and follows two successful such meetings, one at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1986, and at Edinburgh in 1988. The large...

This Volume contains the papers presented by twenty-eight invited speakers at the symposium entitled, "Genetic Manipulation of Woody Plants," held at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, from June 21-25, 1987. Also included are abstracts of contributed poster papers presented during the meeting. That the molecular biology of woody plants is a rapidly expanding field is attested to by the large attendance and high level of enthusiasm generated at the conference. Leading scientists from throughout the world discussed challenging problems and presented new insights into the devel-...

The analysis of intra-group correlations between LS and BW at representative intervals yields no consistent support for the hypothesis that lower BW is associated with longer LS. Indeed, among male Wistar rats and C57BL/6J and A/J mice followed since weaning on AL diets, the data suggested that relatively higher BW across the adult LS was generally associated with longer life. Even when the diet was restricted by EOD or RES regimens, this pattern of positive correlations between LS and BW persisted for the C57BL/6J and A/J strains when relative ages were analyzed. However, when BW at absolute...

The "Symposium on Aneuploidy: Etiology and Mechanisms" was held at the Carnegie Institution of Washington Auditorium from March 25-29. 1985. This Symposium developed as a consequence of the concern of the Environmen tal Protection Agency with the support of the National Institute of Envi ronmental Health Sciences about human exposure to environmental agents that cause aneuploidy. The program was chosen to explore what is currently known about the underlying causes, the origins, and the extent of the prob lem of human aneuploidy, and whether exposure to environmental agents is assodated with...

This book is concerned with the genetic consequences of nu cleotide pool imbalance. There are a number of ways in which this state can be achieved and the majority of papers in this volume de scribe the effects of nucleotide pool imbalance on DNA replication and repair, and the induction of gene mutations in various organisms. This book grew out of a Conference on "Genetic Consequences of Nu cleotide Pool Imbalance" which was held at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on May 9-11, 1983. The Organizing Com mittee consisted of Drs. Diana Anderson (BIBRA), Robert Haynes...

Polyploidy as a dramatic mutational event in the process of evolution has wide implications in nature and for the generation of new and improved crops. The three day Conference on POLYPLOIDY: BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE focused on three aspects of this natural phenomenon: the first emphasized the characteristics of polyploidy, the second described the occurrence of polyploidy among plants and animals, and the third considered past and future areas of both fundamental and pragmatic research that involve polyploidy. New information relative to origin, cytogenetics, ecology, physiology, biochemistry,...

In writing this book, I found the choice of a suitable title to be a most vexing problem. Lehninger's excellent earlier monograph The Mitochondrion had already appropriated in the domain of library cards what appeared to be the most fitting description of the subject matter. Once the text was completed, however, it became obvious that pluralization was the simplest solution to this dilemma. Variations in the structure and function of this organelle and recent discoveries of the phylogenetic diversity in the organization and genetic con- tent of its DNA all seemed to justify the idea that...

It has been nearly 35 years since the peacetime Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was started, born of rather inauspicious conditions. Virtually no facilities were available and most of the wartime scientists had left. So, when we started out, it was obvious to me that something had to be done to reestab lish research. Even more, because Oak Ridge was not known at that time for its biological work but rather for the separation of Uranium 235, nuclear reactor development, and radioisotope produc tion, a new tradition had to be promoted. Although good biological work had been...