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## Meet the editors

Michael Fasullo, Ph.D., is an associate professor at SUNY Polytechnic University, New York. He earned a BSc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. at the Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, California. He was an American Cancer Society fellow at Columbia University, New York, and held faculty positions at Loyola University Chicago and Albany Medical College, New York. He has authored more

than forty peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and review articles in the field of yeast genetics, DNA recombination and repair, oncolytic viruses, and toxicology. His present work focuses on profiling the yeast and mammalian genome for resistance to P450-activated mycotoxins and heterocyclic amines. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, March of Dimes, and Leukemia Research Foundation.

Angel Catalá studied chemistry at Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, where he received a Ph.D. in Chemistry (Biological Branch) in 1965. From 1964 to 1974, he worked as an Assistant in Biochemistry at the School of Medicine at the same university. From 1974 to 1976, he was a fellow of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the University of Connecticut, Health Center, USA. From 1985 to 2004, he served as a Full

Professor of Biochemistry at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. He is a member of the National Research Council (CONICET), Argentina, and the Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SAIB). His laboratory has been interested for many years in the lipid peroxidation of biological membranes from various tissues and different species. Dr. Catalá has directed twelve doctoral theses, published more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, several chapters in books, and edited twelve books. He received awards at the 40th International Conference Biochemistry of Lipids 1999 in Dijon, France. He is the winner of the Bimbo Pan-American Nutrition, Food Science and Technology Award 2006 and 2012, South America, Human Nutrition, Professional Category. In 2006, he won the Bernardo Houssay award in pharmacology, in recognition of his meritorious works of research. Dr. Catalá belongs to the editorial board of several journals including *Journal of Lipids; International Review of Biophysical Chemistry; Frontiers in Membrane Physiology and Biophysics; World Journal of Experimental Medicine and Biochemistry Research International; World Journal of Biological Chemistry, Diabetes, and the Pancreas; International Journal of Chronic Diseases & Therapy;* and *International Journal of Nutrition*. He is the co-editor of *The Open Biology Journal* and associate editor for *Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity*.

### Contents


## Preface

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA double-strand breaks have been associated with multiple clinical pathologies and genetic mutations. Increased levels of ROS have been associated with cancer progression, Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular diseases. Dysfunctional mitochondria can internally generate ROS, resulting in increased Ca++ flux, inflammation, or apoptosis. ROS is also generated by exposure to external environmental factors, including ionizing radiation, industrial toxicants, and food carcinogens. ROS-induced germline and stem cell mutations can lead to developmental deformities. Our continual exposure to ROS underscores the urgency to understand how ROS-associated DNA damage can be repaired, recognize ROS-associated pathologies, and find cures for diseases that result from dysfunctional mitochondria.

Recently, gene therapy has shown promise for the treatment of inherited diseases, such as sickle cell disease. Much of this success can be credited to advances in gene editing techniques, notably CRISPR/CAS9, and in the utilization of model animal organisms, such as mice. The success of CRISPR/CAS9 in editing nuclear genes has excited interest in editing mitochondrial genomes. However, editing mitochondria genes is challenging, partially due to the need to permeate both the outer and inner membranes. In addition, some cells exhibit mitochondrial heteroplasmy. Alternative possibilities are also being explored, such as the ablation of the mutated mitochondrial genome and mitochondrial transplantation.

The chapters in this book highlight pathologies that result from mitochondrial dysfunction and mutagenesis that results from double-strand breaks. The first section focuses on mitochondrial diseases with chapters on ocular and renal pathologies and emerging genetic editing strategies to mitigate or correct mitochondrial DNA mutations. The second section focuses on model organisms and mutagenesis. Of particular interest are transgenic mouse models followed by a chapter on the identification of radiation-induced ontogenic mutations in Drosophila. Altogether, these chapters provide novel insights into mitochondrial-associated diseases and experimental model organisms to study the repair and consequences of DNA damage.

> **Michael Fasullo** College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York, United States

#### **Angel Catala**

Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA-CCT La Plata-CONICET), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
