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Mirta Milić, Goran Gajski, ComNet, hCOMET Consortium, www.hcomet.org
Many human biomonitoring studies have used the comet assay to measure DNA damage (some also measuring DNA repair). In most cases, the assay is applied to peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Results from relatively small individual studies are often inconsistent, and it is advantageous to carry out a pooled analysis of the combined data from all of the available studies. hCOMET is a network comprising researchers who are active (or intend to be active) in human biomonitoring and conduct research relying on this assay. The results supplied by these researchers (41 laboratories, 90 methods, and 108 studies so far) are compiled as a single database representing more than 19,000 individual DNA damage measurements. The masterfile includes not only results on DNA damage parameters, but also DNA damage and repair measured with FPG, hOGG1, ENDO III, BER, and NER repair, cellular repair assay, information about clinical parameters, exposure, life-style habits: diet, exercise, BMI; disease, drugs, and, if measured, information about chromosomal aberrations, micronucleus, or polymorphisms. The pooled analyses that are now in progress will allow us to determine which factors (smoking, age, nutrition, sex, occupational exposure, etc.) affect DNA damage, and to what extent. In addition, hCOMET will address the issue of inter-laboratory reproducibility of the assay by devising standard protocols, for both DNA...