The XXI congress of the Spanish Society of Environmental Mutagenesis was held at School of Pharmacy of the University of Navarra. This meeting, organized by the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology on behalf of the Spanish Society of Environmental Mutagenesis, brought together fifty national and international experts to discuss advances in genotoxicology research (DNA damage).

The conference were divided into four scientific sections. The first, focused on gene instability, mutation and cancer development , was devoted to topics such as the knowledge of genetic markers to evaluate the state of a disease or its progression and the reason for a greater sensitivity to develop certain cancers in certain animal species and sexes. The next session, focused on genotoxic damage and its protection and repair mechanisms, questioned the different natural capacity to repair damaged DNA between individuals.

In the third scientific meeting the damage to the genome caused by toxic environmental substances was evaluated and, finally, new advances in the research of the genotoxicity of nanoparticles were shared, "a topic very fashionable in toxicology because nanoparticles, because of their smaller size, do not behave in the same way as other chemical substances", according to Amaia Azqueta, researcher at School of Pharmacy and organizer of congress together with professors Leire Arbillaga and Ariane Vettorazzi. 

Importance of knowing how DNA is damaged

Genotoxicants are compounds that cause genetic damage to the human organism. They are related to possible DNA mutations with the potential to form cancer. Every day man is exposed to this subject of substances that the authorities try to control by regulating the maximum levels of contact tolerable for health.

According to the organizers of congress, knowing the mechanism by which a substance damages DNA allows a correct scientific assessment of the health risk of being exposed to it and, with this information, its regulation can be adjusted for the benefit of public health.