[The comet assay method: a new approach in genotoxicology research].
The comet assay is a fast, simple and sensitive genotoxicological technique for measuring DNA damage in an individual cell of virtually any cell type of animal or plant origin. Electrophoresis of complete cell genome (assuming a comet-like shape) combined with the image analysis systems for comet analysis provide densitometric and geometric parameters describing the complete comet as well as the head and tail. The comet optical density values are used to quantify the total comet fluorescence and hence indicate DNA content and the level of damage. The application of this method in different fields makes it a powerful tool in human genotoxic study as well as in the estimation of environmental pollution.
Fucić
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Institut za medicinska istrazivanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb.
D004249:DNA Damage; D004586:Electrophoresis; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests / Q000379:methods*