ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the rationale for the use of transgenic models as short-term bioassays for identifying carcinogens. Three desirable characteristics of a carcinogen detection system are presented. First, the carcinogen-detection system should be risk adverse. Second, alternatives for the 2-year bioassays should not reproduce the highly specific effects of chemicals that are the consequence of strain-specific inheritance. Third, transgenic bioassays should detect chemicals that induce transpecies carcinogenic effects. The potential for using transgenic models to screen for chemical carcinogens is based on the premise that genetic factors are the principal determinants of interspecies differences in response to chemicals. An expanding body of knowledge regarding the role of oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes in neoplastic events is leading to a better understanding of carcinogenic mechanisms. This knowledge points to the use of transgenic animal species in carcinogenicity bioassays. The p53 gene was one of the first tumor-suppressor genes identified whose function could regulate neoplastic transformation.
