ReviewNature protocols2023
Measuring DNA modifications with the comet assay: a compendium of protocols.
Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph
Review in Nature protocols, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 152 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
152citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
81.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
152 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 342 citations in OpenAlex.
- A dual-index framework for cold atmospheric plasma dosing: A meta-analysis of parametric control from volumetric redox flux to redox homeostatic status.Redox biology · 2026Pooled it
- The Impact of the Metabolic Syndrome Severity on the Appearance of Primary and Permanent DNA Damage.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of indoor air pollution on DNA damage and chromosome stability: a systematic review.Archives of toxicology · 2024Pooled it
- AIComet: a reliable automated scoring program for DNA damage assessment in the comet assay.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
- Environmentally relevant concentrations of thiamethoxam cause cytotoxic and genotoxic damage in bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) tadpoles.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Cellular Responses to Tartrazine and Sulfanilic Acid Exposure in BEAS-2B Cells: Viability, Apoptosis, and DNA Damage.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- Article
- Genotoxic Activity ofBiology · 2026Article
- Impact of Methylparaben on Cumulus Cell DNA Integrity and Porcine Oocyte Developmental Competence In Vitro.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- A genome-wide CRISPRi screen identifies homologous recombination pathway as potential target for broad-spectrum antibiotic adjuvants.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- BUB1 and CDK4/6 Dual Inhibition Increases Radiation Sensitivity in Glioblastoma, Lung Cancer, and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Genotoxic and Physiological Responses to Repeated Exposure to Low-Concentration Silver Nanoparticles inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- DNA damage in the leukocytes of nanocomposite-exposed workers.Mutagenesis · 2026Article
- DietaryCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Real-life nanoplastics induce endothelial dysfunction in primary human endothelial cells.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
- A Study of the Biomarker Responses of Water Spinach Grown in Polluted Water.Biotechnology and applied biochemistry · 2026Article
- Impact of low-frequency electromagnetic fields on DNA instability caused by environmentally and occupationally relevant chemicals in lymphocytes of donors with different demographic characteristics.Archives of toxicology · 2026Article
- Identification of Proteomic Markers for Monitoring Direct Toxic Liver Injury (DTLI): Profiling Hepatoprotective Effects of Plant Polyphenols.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Radiation induces an EGFR-dependent lactate-epigenetic program underlying synergy with EGFR inhibition.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2026Article
92 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
79 authors at 20 institutions in 21 countries.
Andrew Collins *Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Peter Møller *Department of Public Health, Section of Environmental Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2021-1249
Goran Gajski *Mutagenesis Unit, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1886-1453
Soňa Vodenková *Department of Molecular Biology of Cancer, Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
Abdulhadi AbdulwahedOxidative Stress Group, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
Diana AndersonBiomedical Sciences Department, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
Ezgi Eyluel BankogluInstitute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Stefano BonassiDepartment of Human Sciences and Quality of Life Promotion, San Raffaele University, Rome, Italy.
Elisa Boutet-RobinetToxalim (Research Centre in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UPS, Toulouse, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5223-4568
Gunnar BrunborgDivision of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Christy ChaoDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Marcus S CookeOxidative Stress Group, Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0369-862X
Carla CostaEnvironmental Health Department, National Institute of Health, Porto, Portugal.
Solange CostaEnvironmental Health Department, National Institute of Health, Porto, Portugal.
Alok DhawanCentre of BioMedical Research, SGPGIMS Campus, Lucknow, India.
Joaquin de LapuenteToxicology Department, AC MARCA Group, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4738-406X
Cristian Del Bo'Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Julien DubusAix-Marseille University, CEA, CNRS, Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnologies of Aix-Marseille, Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France.
Maria DusinskaHealth Effects Laboratory, Department of Environmental Chemistry, NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway.
Susan J DuthieSchool of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7990-4437
Naouale El YamaniHealth Effects Laboratory, Department of Environmental Chemistry, NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway.
Bevin EngelwardDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Isabel GaivãoGenetics and Biotechnology Department and Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
Lisa GiovannelliDepartment NEUROFARBA, Section Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Roger GodschalkDepartment of Pharmacology & Toxicology, School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Sofia GuilhermeCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal.
Kristine B GutzkowDivision of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Khaled HabasSchool of Chemistry and Bioscience, Faculty of Life Sciences, Bradford University, Bradford, UK.
Alba HernándezDepartment of Genetics and Microbiology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Spain.
Oscar HerreroBiology and Environmental Toxicology Group, Faculty of Science, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1410-368X
Marina IsidoriDepartment of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0484-2796
Awadhesh N JhaSchool of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9660-4308
Siegfried KnasmüllerInstitute of Cancer Research, Internal Medicine I, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Ingeborg M KooterDepartment Circular Economy and Environment, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research-TNO, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Gudrun KoppenVITO-Health, VITO, Mol, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6014-7803
Marcin KruszewskiCentre for Radiobiology and Biological Dosimetry, Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4554-8566
Carina LadeiraH&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL-Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Blanca LaffonUniversidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, CICA - Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, A Coruña, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7649-2599
Marcelo LarramendyLaboratory of Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Museum, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
Ludovic Le HégaratAnses, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Fougeres Laboratory, Toxicology of Contaminants Unit, Fougères, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3494-4109
Angélique LewiesDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5624-1386
Anna LewinskaDepartment of Biotechnology, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland.
Guillermo E LiwszycLaboratory of Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Museum, National University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina.
Adela López de CerainDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Mugimane ManjanathaFood and Drug Administration, National Center for Toxicological Research, Division of Genetic and Molecular Toxicology, Jefferson, AR, USA.
Ricard MarcosDepartment of Genetics and Microbiology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola de Vallès, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7891-357X
Mirta MilićMutagenesis Unit, Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9837-7185
Vanessa Moraes de AndradeTranslational Biomedicine Laboratory, Graduate Program of Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Criciuma, Brazil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8474-4482
Massimo MorettiDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Unit of Public Health, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5038-8619
Damian MuruzabalDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Matjaž NovakDepartment of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Rui OliveiraDepartment of Biology, CBMA-Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3989-8925
Ann-Karin OlsenDivision of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3982-5213
Norah OwitiDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Mário PachecoCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal.
Alok K PandeyNanomaterial Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India.
Stefan PfuhlerGlobal Product Stewardship - Human Safety, The Procter & Gamble Co, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Bertrand PourrutLaboratoire Ecologie fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
Kerstin ReisingerHenkel AG & Co. KGaA, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Emilio RojasDepartment of Genomic Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CU, Mexico City, Mexico.
Elise Rundén-PranHealth Effects Laboratory, Department of Environmental Chemistry, NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway.
Julen Sanz-SerranoDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0503-2752
Sergey ShaposhnikovNorGenoTech AS, Oslo, Norway.
Ville SipinenNorwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment, Oslo, Norway.
Karen SmeetsCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Helga StopperInstitute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4168-8211
João Paulo TeixeiraEnvironmental Health Department, National Institute of Health, Porto, Portugal.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8693-5250
Vanessa ValdiglesiasInstituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), A Coruña, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5572-1089
Mahara ValverdeDepartment of Genomic Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CU, Mexico City, Mexico.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6975-1185
Frederique van AckerTriskelion BV, Zeist, The Netherlands.
Frederik-Jan van SchootenDepartment of Pharmacology & Toxicology, School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Marie VasquezHelix3 Inc., RTP, Morrisville, NC, USA.
Johannes F WentzelFARMOVS, Bloemfontein, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2105-2673
Maciej WnukDepartment of Biology, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8518-6670
Annelies WoutersCentre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Bojana ŽeguraDepartment of Genetic Toxicology and Cancer Biology, National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5731-0785
Tomas ZikmundBiocev, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-3749
Sabine A S LangieDepartment of Pharmacology & Toxicology, School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Amaya AzquetaDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. amazqueta@unav.es.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4857-9931
Maastricht University · NLMassachusetts Institute of Technology · USNational Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge · PTNILU · NONorwegian Institute of Public Health · NOCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FRCharles University · CZHasselt University · BEInstitute for Medical Research and Occupational Health · HRNational Institute of Biology · SINavarre Institute of Health Research · ESUniversidad de Navarra · ESUniversidade da Coruña · ESUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México · MXUniversidad Nacional de La Plata · ARUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona · ESUniversity of Aveiro · PTUniversity of Bradford · GBUniversity of Rzeszów · PLUniversity of Würzburg · DE
Funding
The MIT Superfund Research Program: A Systems Approach for the Protection of Human Health from Hazardous ChemicalsP42ES027707 · NIEHS · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI Desiree Plata · 2017 to 2026
$22.2MAHTP-comet: development of an automated, high throughput comet assay systemR41ES030274 · NIEHS · ENGINEERING RESOURCES GROUP, INC. · PI COOKE, MARCUS STANLEY, ROSS, CHRISTOPHER · 2019 to 2019
$150kNIEHS NIH HHS P42 ES027707NIEHS NIH HHS R41 ES030274
Abstract
The comet assay is a versatile method to detect nuclear DNA damage in individual eukaryotic cells, from yeast to human. The types of damage detected encompass DNA strand breaks and alkali-labile sites (e.g., apurinic/apyrimidinic sites), alkylated and oxidized nucleobases, DNA-DNA crosslinks, UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and some chemically induced DNA adducts. Depending on the specimen type, there are important modifications to the comet assay protocol to avoid the formation of additional DNA damage during the processing of samples and to ensure sufficient sensitivity to detect differences in damage levels between sample groups. Various applications of the comet assay have been validated by research groups in academia, industry and regulatory agencies, and its strengths are highlighted by the adoption of the comet assay as an in vivo test for genotoxicity in animal organs by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The present document includes a series of consensus protocols that describe the application of the comet assay to a wide variety of cell types, species and types of DNA damage, thereby demonstrating its versatility.
Indexed as
DNA DamagePyrimidine DimersAnimalsComet AssayDNAEukaryotic CellsHumansDNAPyrimidine Dimers
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390
Registered trials
None linked
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.