Monitoring for induced heritable mutations in natural populations: application of minisatellite DNA screening

The need to understand the role that anthropogenic chemicals play in generating germline mutations is critical, both from an ecological and a human health perspective. Exposure to complex mixtures of urban and industrial chemicals is widespread and we have little understanding of the long-term implications to populations and gene pools. It has recently been suggested that minisatellite DNA mutations may be sensitive biomarkers for induced heritable mutations in populations exposed to radioactive and non-radioactive contamination in their environments. Minisatellite loci are attractive targets for mutational analyses because they undergo a rate of mutation much greater than unique sequence DNA and with DNA fingerprinting many loci can be scanned simultaneously. As a result, the technique is statistically powerful requiring relatively small sample sizes (compared to other in situ mutation assays) and is reasonably cost and time efficient. This paper will review the application of minisatellite mutation screening to the field of genetic toxicology.