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The Goodman Institute Health Blog

Bruce Ames, RIP

Posted on December 4, 2024 by John C. Goodman

Bruce Ames was a scientist best known to the world as the inventor of the “Ames Test,” a relatively inexpensive and quick way of determining whether a chemical can cause cancer in mice and rats.

His test was used (and still is used to some degree) to take chemicals off the market and inform various product regulations.

However, as time went on, Ames and his colleagues discovered that when mice were exposed to very high doses (thousands of times what any human would be exposed to) of any chemical, the result was cancer one of every two times. And this happened as often with natural chemicals as it did with manmade chemicals.

Finally, Ames came to realize that it was probably the high dosage bombardment, not the chemicals themselves, that was causing cancer.

The lesson. It’s not true that everything causes cancer. But it is true that every other thing causes cancer, if the dosage is high enough.

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For many years, our health care blog was the only free enterprise health policy blog on the internet. Then, when the NCPA closed its doors, the health blog stopped as well.

During this five-year hiatus no one else has come forward to claim the space. So, my colleagues and I have decided to restart the blog in connection with the Goodman Institute. We invite you and others to use this forum to share your views.

John C. Goodman,

Visit www.goodmaninstitute.org

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