Obituary of Bruce Nathan Ames, Pioneer Biochemist and Creator of the Ames Test

Obituary: Bruce Nathan Ames, Renowned Biochemist, Passes Away at 95

Bruce Nathan Ames, a distinguished biochemist renowned for his groundbreaking development of a revolutionary method to identify potential carcinogens, passed away on October 5th in Berkeley, California. He was 95 years old. His wife, Giovanna Ferro-Luzzi Ames, confirmed that his death was the result of complications following a fall, which necessitated hospitalization.

In the 1970s, Dr. Ames developed what is now known as the Ames Test, a pivotal tool that remains widely employed by pharmaceutical companies and pesticide manufacturers to assess the safety of various products. The test utilizes a specially engineered mutant strain of salmonella bacteria that Dr. Ames created. By observing how these bacteria react to various chemicals, researchers can ascertain whether those substances induce DNA damage and may consequently pose a cancer risk to humans.

As concerns about the implications of pollution and industrial chemicals grew in American society, the Ames Test emerged as a game-changing solution. It provided a rapid, cost-effective alternative to traditional animal testing methods, which were often prohibitively expensive and limited the ability of regulators to evaluate the safety of chemicals in widespread use. “It changed the regulatory sphere,” noted Angela Creager, a science historian at Princeton University who is penning a book about the significance of the Ames Test. “It showed that it was actually possible to get toxicity information on every chemical if we wanted to.”

Following the widespread media attention garnered by his work, Dr. Ames continued to be a prominent figure in the scientific community. He utilized the Ames Test to reveal the toxicity of numerous everyday chemicals, significantly contributing to public health awareness and regulatory practices.

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