Use of gene regulatory sensors to monitor environmental pollutant levels in small mammals and birds

由于人类活动，环境中大量的杀虫剂和二恶英类污染物大量增加。其中一些化学品具有持久性，并在食物链中积累，这引起了人们对人类甚至野生动物健康中长期接触的重大关切。测量环境中这类污染物的经典方法是通过生物化学手段对水和土壤来源进行采样，以评估其丰度。一旦确定了这些测量值，就可以确定它们是否在被认为对生物“安全”的范围内。然而，这种方法的主要缺陷是，人们如何知道需要多少这些化学物质才能影响单个物种的健康？细胞可以通过芳香烃受体（AhR）的作用对污染物和农药进行解毒，至少部分是通过调节属于细胞色素P450 1A家族（包括CYP1A1和CYP1B1）的异生物质代谢酶。从理论上讲，

The abundance of pesticides and dioxin-like pollutants has massively increased in the environment due to human activity. Some of these chemicals are persistent and accumulate in the food chain, which raises major concerns regarding mid- and long-term exposure on human and even wildlife health. The classical way of measuring such pollutants in the environment is to sample water and soil sources by biochemical means to assess their abundance. Once these measurements are determined, it is decided whether they are within a range that is deemed "safe" for living creatures. However the major flaw with this is that how does one know how much of these chemicals are required to affect the health of individual species? Cells can be detoxified of pollutants and pesticides, at least in part, by the action of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which regulates xenobiotic metabolism enzymes belonging to the cytochrome P450 1A family (including CYP1A1 and CYP1B1). In theory, the more these