H(2o)w. ever, numerous
other cases of large gene families now exist, such as the steroid
receptors, interferons, and the glutathioSne- and UDP-glucuronosyl
transferases involved in drug metabolism (3, 4). There have
been two major views on the function of P-450 enzymes: (i) the
enzymes have critical and specific roles in the metabolism of
endogeneous chemicals and (ii) the enzymes process the burden
of natural products (and, in today’s world, chemicals such as
drugs and other xenobiotics, i.e. “foreign” chemicals) in a relatively
non-selective manner