The Comet assay has been used widely in genetic toxicology, radiation biology and medical and environmental research. This assay detects single-strand breaks and alkali-labile sites in DNA and DNA degradation due to necrosis or apoptosis. It may also be modified to detect DNA cross-linking. Although a considerable number of chemicals have been tested in the assay there are many aspects of valid...

The contributions to this special issue of Mutagenesis have been selected to cover the main research areas served by the comet assay, namely genotoxicology, environmental toxicology, human biomonitoring and fundamental investigations into mechanisms of DNA damage and repair. Innovative methods are described, technical issues are explored, and guidelines are given for venturing into relatively n...

BACKGROUND Apoptosis or programmed cell death is an essential process for elimination of damaged cells. Also, induction of apoptosis is fundamental for treating cancer. Screening for agents that induce apoptosis in tumor cells help in the development of novel agents for cancer treatment. Numerous studies suggest that the exposure of tumor cells to statins can lead to cell death via two separate...

In this work, the DNA-damaging effect of hydrogen peroxide on the structural integrity of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) was studied for the first time by comet-FISH in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Global DNA damage was assessed in hemocytes using an alkaline version of the comet assay. Next, NOR sensitivity was analyzed by mapping major rDNA repeat unit by fluorescence in situ hyb...

background: lymphocytes of fanconi anemia (fa) show an increased sensitivity to the alkylating agents such as mitomycin c (mmc), but their responses to gamma-irradiation is controversial. the extent of dna damage in leukocytes of fa patients following irradiation and mmc treatment was studied at cellular and single chromosome level. methods: dna damage induced by gamma-rays and mmc was measured...