ABSTRACT
As biological organisms, we are sensitive to agents in the environment which disrupt physiological processes. For centuries, humankind has been aware of a variety of substances which can produce toxic effects. The range of toxic effects and their specific mechanisms of action are substantial. This chapter begins with a brief discussion of toxic agents and several of the ways in which they produce their adverse effects. A second section describes some important genetic methods used in the analysis of genetic risk for susceptibility to toxic agents. Subsequently, individual differences in responsivity to some of these agents are described. The chapter ends with a discussion of the importance of interactions between genes and environments, and some of the scientific and ethical questions raised by our growing understanding of genetic risk factors in toxicology.
