DNA damage by chemicals, radiation, or oxidative stress
leads to
a mutational spectrum, which is complex because it is determined in
part by lesion structure, the DNA sequence context of the lesion,
lesion repair kinetics, and the type of cells in which the lesion
is replicated. Accumulation of mutations may give rise to genetic
diseases such as cancer and therefore understanding the process underlying
mutagenesis is of immense importance to preserve human health. Chemical
or physical agents that cause cancer often leave their mutational
fingerprints, which can be used to back-calculate the molecular events
that led to disease. To make a clear link between DNA lesion structure
and the mutations a given lesion induces, the field of single-lesion
mutagenesis was developed. In the last three decades this area of
research has seen much growth in several directions, which we attempt
to describe in this Perspective.