One of the common tests for a chemical compound's mutagenicity is to take bacteria that can't metabolise lactose, plate them on a medium that only contains lactose, and dose them with the chemical. The number of bacterial plaques that live show a linear relationship with the chemical's ability to screw up DNA enough to get bacteria to produce lactases that allow them to eat the only local food source.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timeasmymeasure
no subject