Bioprocess Engineering 2nd Edition by Fikret Kargi,Michael Shuler

Exercise 1

An important method for screening for carcinogens is called the Ames test. The test is based
on the potential for mutant cells of a microorganism to revert to a phenotype similar to the
nonmutant. The rate of reversion increases in the presence of a mutagen. Many compounds
that are mutagens are also carcinogens, and vice versa. Describe how you would set up an ex-
periment and analyze the data to determine if nicotine is mutagenic.