Question

Thalidomide was a druggiven to pregnant women in the early

1960's to reduce morningsickness. Unfortunately, the drug caused
irreparable damage to thedeveloping fetus.Thalidomide inhibited
proper limb formation. Manychildren were born without arms and
legs. Explain how he ames testcould have prevented this
tragedy.

Answer 1

Thalidomide may be defined as a type of the sedative drug that in the earlier time referred for the pregnant ladies. This drug causes the world wide tragedy and acts as a teratogen.

This drug causes mutation in the fetus. The Ames test is effective to understand the mutagenicity of the drug. In this test, if the auxotrophic strain of the bacteria is grown on the the deficient media containing thalidomide drug. The bacteria growth indicates the positive Ames test and the substance is considered as mutagen.