AbstractMercury (Hg) is a highly toxic, non-essential, nat-urally occurring metal with a variety of uses. Mercury is not required for any known biological process and its presence in the human bodymay be detrimental, especially to the nervous
system. Both genetic and behavioral studies suggest that mer-cury levels, age (both of exposure and at testing), and genetic background determine disease processes and outcome. The metal receptors and genes responsible for mercury metabo-lism also appear to play a pivotal role in the etiology of mercury-induced pathology. This review presents information about the latest advances in mercury research, with particular focus on low-level exposures and the contribution of genetics to toxic outcome. Future studies should address the contribu-tion of genetics and low-level mercury exposure to disease, namely gene x environment interactions, taking into consid-eration age of exposure as developing animals are exquisitely more sensitive to this metal. In addition to recent advances in understanding the pathology associated with mercury exposure, the review highlights transport mechanisms, cellular distribution and detoxification of mercury species in the body. Keywords Mercury.Methylmercury.Ethylmercury. Bioaccumulation.Degeneration. Skin creams. Genetics. Autism. pdr-1.skn-1.Fish. C. elegans