INTERNATIONAL COMET ASSAY WORKING GROUP

PROJECTS AND COLLABORATION

hCOMET (COST Action CA15132) – The comet assay as a human biomonitoring too – is supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

The main aim of hCOMET COST Action is to collect the results of individual human population studies creating a unified database of comet assay data relating to human health and disease, promoting the consolidation of a network of researchers activeley involved in collecting comet assay data on DNA damage (and DNA repair) in  human populations.

The ComNet (comet network) project on the comet assay in human population studies was launched during the International Comet Assay Workshop meeting in Kusadasi, Turkey (September 13-13, 2011).

The main priorities of the ComNet project were:

• to establish the comet assay as a reliable biomonitoring tool for human studies
• to define the relevance of DNA damage (as measured with the comet assay) for human health and disease

The project and consortium formed the basis for the hCOMET COST Action.

The European Comet Assay Validation Group (ECVAG) was one of the main pillars of ECNIS2, the continuation of the initial Environmental Risk, Nutrition and Individual Susceptibility (ECNIS) FP7 project.

Comet assay and cell array for fast and efficient genotoxicity testing – FP6 project.

Development and application of biomarkers of dietary exposure to genotoxic and immunotoxic chemicals and of biomarkers of early effects, using mother-child birth cohorts and biobanks – FP6 project.