Oecd Guideline for the Testing of Chemicals in Vivo Mammalian Alkaline Comet Assay Introduction

1. The in vivo alkaline comet (single cell gel electrophoresis) assay (hereafter called simply the comet assay) is used for the detection of DNA strand breaks in cells or nuclei isolated from multiple tissues of animals, usually rodents, that have been exposed to potentially genotoxic material(s). The comet assay has been reviewed and recommendations have been published by various expert groups (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10). This Test Guideline is part of a series of Test Guidelines on genetic toxicology. A document presented as an Introduction to the Test Guidelines on genotoxicity (11) can also be referred to and provides succinct and useful guidance to users of these Test Guidelines.