ABSTRACT
It has become evident that an understanding of the mechanisms of acute and chronic toxicity, including carcinogenesis in humans, must involve studies of human cells and tissues. While it is important to develop models in vitro and in vivo using animal cells and tissues, ultimately the assessment of disease mechanisms and disease prevention in humans must rely on studies of human cells and tissues. The overall strategy of our programme is to compare animal studies to those of human tissues in vivo, make observations in vitro and thereby optimize the extrapolation of conclusions on mechanisms of disease from animal data to man. Programmes such as ours could lead to major steps forward in research and provide tools for characterization of environmental and other agents on human cells and tissues. In a number of cases the DNA adducts isolated from cultured human tissues have been identified for several procarcinogens.
