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Cyprotox have partnered with Gentronix, specialists in genotoxicity screening, to offer the in vitro Comet assay.
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The Comet assay, also called the single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay is a sensitive, rapid and relatively simple method for detecting DNA damage at the individual eukaryotic cell level1.
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Electrophoresis is performed on exposed cells that have been embedded in agarose microgels. Damage resulting in DNA fragmentation is detectable by migration away from the nucleus giving a comet-like appearance with the head consisting of intact DNA and the tail consisting of damaged DNA.
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The assay delivers rapid and sensitive DNA damage assessment with the benefit of low compound requirements.
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The Comet assay complements other genotoxicity assays to provide a mechanistic insight into genotoxicity.
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‘In addition to the capability of the Comet assay to identify DNA damage at the single cell level, other significant advantages include its sensitivity for detecting low levels of DNA damage, the requirement for only small numbers of cells per sample, its ease of application, and the short time needed to perform the assay.’ |
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2Liao W, McNutt MA and Zhu W-G (2009) Methods 48; 46-53
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