Bruce Nathan Ames

Bruce Nathan Ames is professor professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Center, University of California at Berkeley, His research led to a greater appreciation of the role of genetic mutation in cancer and facilitated the testing of suspected cancer-causing chemicals. He also developed a data base of chemicals that cause cancer in animals, listing their degree of virulence. In 1997, Ames was one of team of UC Berkeley scientists who discovered the link between low levels of folic acid, an essential nutrient, and breaks that occur in chromosomes and DNA. These breaks could lead to cancer and other diseases.

We thank Andre Trombeta and Grace E. Jacobs for information submitted.