Biomarkers of Environmentally Associated Disease: Technologies, Concepts, and Perspectives

The end of the 20th century brought with it a revolution in molecular biology that culminated in advances such as the completion of the human genome. This has brought optimism to the fields of toxicology and environmental health, and the anticipation that molecular biomarkers might soon come of age and have a major impact on human and environmental health. Biomarker research is an area of current interest to scientists in a number of fields that are concerned with environmental exposure to pollutants and environmentally associated disease. Biomarkers of Environmentally Associated Disease: Technologies, Concepts, and Perspectives provides comprehensive coverage of the current status and future prospects of a field that will play a key role in emerging areas of public health and medicine. It focuses on the risk to human and environmental health of exposure to persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, airborne toxics, environmental estrogens, and other environmental pollutants. This material will aid researchers in understanding, treating, and preventing environmentally induced disease. Validated molecular biomarkers have long been recognized as invaluable tools for identifying and preventing human disease. As biomarkers begin to be applied more widely, it is also important to assure that they are implemented ethically, with attention to the social and legal issues associated with their use. Biomarkers of Environmentally Associated Disease is an outstanding resource providing state-of-the-art information for the fields that encompass molecular biomarkers.