Carcinogens and Genotoxicity Assessment

Genotoxicity assessment examines how chemical and environmental agents damage DNA, trigger mutations, and set in motion the molecular cascade that can lead to cancer. Standardized laboratory tools such as the Comet Assay, which measures strand breaks in individual cells, and the Micronucleus Assay, which detects chromosomal instability, have made it possible to quantify this damage in both controlled experiments and real-world biomonitoring studies of exposed human populations. Understanding which substances are mutagenic or carcinogenic—and at what doses—is essential for regulatory risk assessment and for protecting public health from occupational and environmental exposures. Active research is focused on improving the sensitivity and predictive power of these assays, integrating them with omics-level data, and disentangling how DNA repair capacity and genetic background determine why some individuals progress toward carcinogenesis while others do not.

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Keywords

Comet AssayGenotoxicity TestingMicronucleus AssayDNA DamageCarcinogenesisEnvironmental Monitoring