Auerbach, Charlotte

Auerbach, Charlotte, 1949, Chemical induction of mutations, Proceedings of the 8th International Congress of Genetics (supplement volume) 128-147,... 

Auerbach, Charlotte, and John M. Robson. 1944. Production of mutations by allyl isothiocyanate. Nature 154 81. 

Auerbach, Charlotte, John M. Robson, and J. G. Carr. 1947. The chemical production of mutations. Science 105 243-247. 

The first definitive studies were performed in Britain during World War II by Charlotte Auerbach.19 After the observation that injuries from war gases resembled x-ray burns, Auerbach demonstrated unequivocally that mustard gas induced sex-linked recessive lethal mutations in Drosophila. At about the same time, I. A. Rapoport361 independently reported that several other chemicals induced gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations. Their work ushered in the era of chemical studies of mutation, and within a few years a large number of chemical mutagens had been identified. 

Others were honored guests. Charlotte Auerbach suffered serious burns and rashes from the mustard compounds she used in her mutagenesis experiments in the 1940s (Beale 1993). 

Kilbey, Brian J. 1995. In memoriam Charlotte Auerbach, FRS (1899-1994). Mutation Research 327 1-4. 

Charlotte Auerbach and chemical mutagenesis, Mutation Research... 

Charlotte Auerbach and colleagues in 1946 described studies (actually conducted in 1941) that demonstrated that mustard gas could induce mutations and that these were similar at the whole-organism level in Drosophila to those induced by X-rays. Thus, research began in the new area of chemical mutagenesis that ran in parallel with radiation mutagenesis studies. 

The ready acceptance and wide demand for copies of the first two volumes of Chemical Mutagens Principles and Methods for Their Detection have demonstrated the need for wider dissemination of information on this timely and urgent subject. Therefore, it was imperative that a third volume be prepared to include more detailed discussions on techniques of some of the methods that were presented from a theoretical point of view in the first two volumes, and to update this rapidly expanding field with current findings and the new developments that have taken place in the past three years. Also included is a special chapter by Dr. Charlotte Auerbach giving the historical background of the discovery of chemical mutagenesis. 

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