The ILS MIT SBIR aimed at developing an in vitro alternative to the in vivo comet assay was one of four “Papers of the Month” recognized in February’s NIEHS Environmental Factor.

Congratulations to ILS Vice President of Research and Development, Dr. Les Recio, Ph.D., DABT and ILS Director of In Vitro Toxicology & Formulations, Carol Swartz, Ph.D., DVM and their co-authors in the publication titled, “Sensitive CometChip assay for screening potentially carcinogenic DNA adducts by trapping DNA repair intermediates.” 

There is a need to develop in vitro alternatives to in vivo genotoxicity assessments as mandated by regulatory agencies worldwide for the registration and use of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and food-related products that require significant numbers of animals. ILS and MIT are developing a non-animal in vitro alternative to the Comet assay in rodents by using human hepatocyte cell models and CometChip^Ò single-cell array technology integrating human xenobiotic biotransformation with higher throughput DNA damage assessment in a human-relevant system. Interlaboratory validation trials initiated in 2020 will develop the needed data to gain acceptance for the use of the HepaRG™ CometChip^Ò assay as in vitro alternative to the in vivo Comet assay.

5U44ES024698-05 Development of a High Throughput DNA Damage Assay in Hepatocytes.