[Molecular biological approaches for environmental medicine]

A revolution in biology and medicine is taking place as a direct consequence of rapid developments in the field of molecular biology. The tremendous advances in our knowledge of basic molecular genetics and cell biology have opened the door for new methods of diagnosis, assessment of individual susceptibility to disease, and elucidation of the pathogenesis of disease. These advances will have a profound impact on the practice of occupational and environmental medicine. In this review, we intend to summarize the approaches we have applied in order to deal with the environmental problems we have faced.