Repair of human DNA

The authors research objectives are to analyze the various components of the human repair system and determine their impact on the carcinogenic event in man. To these ends they employ both normal, repair-proficient human cells and cells derived from patients with the hereditary, cancer-prone disease, xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) which are deficient in DNA repair. Repair in other cell types is studied whenever such experiments can contribute to the understanding of the the DNA repair process in human cells. Their primary objective is to elucidate the molecular events in human cells when DNA is damaged by radiation or chemical agents. They study and characterize the sequence of DNA repair events, the various modalities of repair, the physiological inhibition of repair due to biochemical inhibitors, and the genetic basis of repair. The authors ultimate goals are to isolate and analyze the repair component of the mutagenic and/or carcinogenic event in human cells, and to evaluate the significance of this repair component as it impinges on the practical problems of human irradiation or exposure to actual or potential chemical mutagens and carcinogens