<description>&lt;p&gt;In 1973 biochemist Bruce Ames created a simple test that showed if chemicals had the potential to cause cancer. The Ames test made him a hero of the emerging environmental movement. But then he completely changed course and said concerns about chemicals were overblown. So what happened? Did Ames change? Or did our understanding of what causes cancer change?&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 id="credits" class="wp-block-heading"&gt;Featured Oral History&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href= "https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/ames_bruce_2021.pdf"&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Bruce N. Ames, "Bruce N. Ames: The Marriage of Biochemistry and Genetics at Caltech, the NIH, UC Berkeley, and CHORI, 1954–2018"&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; conducted by Paul Burnett in 2019 and 2020, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2021.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;h2 id="credits" class="wp-block-heading"&gt;Credits&lt;/h2&gt; &lt;p&gt;Host: &lt;a href= "https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/alexis-j-pedrick"&gt;Alexis Pedrick&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Senior Producer: &lt;a href= "https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/mariel-carr"&gt;Mariel Carr&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Producer: &lt;a href= "https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/rigoberto-hernandez"&gt;Rigoberto Hernandez&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Associate Producer: &lt;a href= "https://www.sciencehistory.org/profile/sarah-kaplan/"&gt;Sarah Kaplan&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Audio Engineer: &lt;a href="https://www.podbrain.org/" target= "_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Jonathan Pfeffer&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt; “Color Theme” composed by &lt;a href= "https://www.podbrain.org/" target="_blank" rel= "noreferrer noopener"&gt;Jonathan Pfeffer&lt;/a&gt;. Additional music by &lt;a href="https://www.sessions.blue/" target= "_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"&gt;Blue Dot Sessions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Distillations | Science History Institute

Science History Institute

The Ames Test

JUL 9, 202443 MIN
Distillations | Science History Institute

The Ames Test

JUL 9, 202443 MIN

Description

In 1973 biochemist Bruce Ames created a simple test that showed if chemicals had the potential to cause cancer. The Ames test made him a hero of the emerging environmental movement. But then he completely changed course and said concerns about chemicals were overblown. So what happened? Did Ames change? Or did our understanding of what causes cancer change?

Featured Oral History

Bruce N. Ames, "Bruce N. Ames: The Marriage of Biochemistry and Genetics at Caltech, the NIH, UC Berkeley, and CHORI, 1954–2018" conducted by Paul Burnett in 2019 and 2020, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2021.

Credits

Host: Alexis Pedrick Senior Producer: Mariel Carr Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Associate Producer: Sarah Kaplan Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer “Color Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions