Expertise and consultancy

We offer advice and expertise in all aspects of genotoxicity assessment of chemicals including nano- and advanced materials, biomonitoring and ecotoxicology testing with the comet assay and other genotoxicity methods.

We can help with setting up a new laboratory, establishing new methods, designing experiments, data analysis and safety evaluation.

Project design

We can help you to design experiments and projects, plan grant applications, etc.
Comet assay topics include:

  • Choice of cells for in vitro experiments
  • Deciding on an appropriate protocol
  • 2 or 12 gels per slide, or 96 on a GelBond film
  • Optional inclusion of enzyme digestion
  • Electrophoresis conditions
  • Staining
  • Image analysis
  • Number of comets to be counted
  • Which comet assay descriptor to use?
  • Historical control data

In the case of human biomonitoring studies,

  • Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
  • Crossover studies
  • Matching exposed and control groups
  • Size of groups
  • Confounding factors

Toxicity evaluation. Hazard and Risk Assessment

We perform hazard and risk assessment for chemicals and nanomaterials including those present in medical devices, cosmetics, food and feed products. We take account of the latest research and developments and adopt new tools and approaches.

Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD)

We provide outstanding expertise in chemical safety and nanosafety, addressing challenges regarding current and future regulation.  This approach can identify potential hazards at an early stage of product development, thus ensuring sustainability.

Nanosafety and regulation

We have expertise to address the challenges associated with features of of nano and advanced materials with regard to genotoxicity testing, hazard and risk assessment. We can advise you how to select suitable in vitro models and methods for various exposure routes and target organ systems. We also can provide advice for the requirements of different regulatory domains.

Standarisation and validation of new methods

We are experienced in the 3Rs (Reduce, Refine, Replace animal experimentation), the development of New Approach Methods (NAMs) and advanced models, and can advise on the standardisation and validation of these approaches when working towards OECD test guidelines (TGs).

Trouble shooting

We can help with practical problems and theoretical issues concerning the comet assay. Here are some frequently asked questions:

Does the neutral comet assay only detect double strand breaks? Are alkaline conditions necessary to see single strand breaks?
How can I prevent gels from falling off the slides?
How important is lysis time?
How important is pH?
How important is voltage?
How important is current?
Does it matter if there are non-viable cells among those used in the comet assay? What % is acceptable?
Can the comet assay be used to detect apoptotic cells? Are ‘hedgehog’ comets a sign of apoptosis?
Can the comet assay be used to detect damage in mitochondrial DNA?
How do I measure other kinds of damage, in addition to strand breaks?
Can the comet assay be used to measure DNA repair?
What is the best image analysis descriptor to use?
Do I need to buy image analysis software?
Why do I sometimes see images resembling halos, rather than comets, even when there is sufficient damage to produce tails?