Sex-changing weed killer.

• Autores: David Biello
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 302, Nº. 5, 2010, págs. 24-27
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses research on the herbicide atrazine, an endocrine disruptor, and its sex-changing effects on frogs. The research of biologist Tyrone Hayes and colleagues on long-term exposure of African clawed frogs to atrazine concentrations that satisfy drinking water standards is noted. They found that 75 percent of the frogs were adversely affected by disorders including chemically castration and the inability to reproduce. A possible explanation for the effects noted is said to involve aromatase, a protein involved in production of estrogen.