Minimum Information for Reporting on the Comet Assay (MIRCA): recommendations for describing comet assay procedures and results

• Published in: Nature protocols Vol. 15; no. 12; pp. 3817 - 3826
• Main Authors: Møller, Peter, Azqueta, Amaya, Boutet-Robinet, Elisa, Koppen, Gudrun, Bonassi, Stefano, Milić, Mirta, Gajski, Goran, Costa, Solange, Teixeira, João Paulo, Costa Pereira, Cristiana, Dusinska, Maria, Godschalk, Roger, Brunborg, Gunnar, Gutzkow, Kristine B, Giovannelli, Lisa, Cooke, Marcus S, Richling, Elke, Laffon, Blanca, Valdiglesias, Vanessa, Basaran, Nursen, Del Bo', Cristian, Zegura, Bojana, Novak, Matjaz, Stopper, Helga, Vodicka, Pavel, Vodenkova, Sona, de Andrade, Vanessa Moraes, Sramkova, Monika, Gabelova, Alena, Collins, Andrew, Langie, Sabine A S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Norwegian
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.12.2020; Nature Publishing Group UK
• Subjects: Bioassays; Biochemical assays; Biology; Comet assay; Comet Assay - methods; Comet Assay - standards; Consensus; Consensus Statement; Damage detection; DNA damage; DNA repair; Electrophoresis; Environmental health; Epidemiology; Genetic research; Guideline Adherence - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Laboratories; Life Sciences; Medical research; Methods; Nutrition; Pharmacology; Protocol; Public health; Quality assessment; Research Design; Toxicity; Toxicology; Denmark
• ISSN: 1754-2189; 1750-2799; 1750-2799
• DOI: 10.1038/s41596-020-0398-1

The comet assay is a widely used test for the detection of DNA damage and repair activity. However, there are interlaboratory differences in reported levels of baseline and induced damage in the same experimental systems. These differences may be attributed to protocol differences, although it is difficult to identify the relevant conditions because detailed comet assay procedures are not always published. Here, we present a Consensus Statement for the Minimum Information for Reporting Comet Assay (MIRCA) providing recommendations for describing comet assay conditions and results. These recommendations differentiate between 'desirable' and 'essential' information: 'essential' information refers to the precise details that are necessary to assess the quality of the experimental work, whereas 'desirable' information relates to technical issues that might be encountered when repeating the experiments. Adherence to MIRCA recommendations should ensure that comet assay results can be easily interpreted and independently verified by other researchers.