Several research methods including sister chromatid exchange, chromosomal aberration and the micronu- cleus assay are normally used for investigating genetic damage. However, these methods are economically costly, time-consuming and require proliferating cells. Therefore, the use of single cell gel electrophore- sis (SCGE) or/and the comet assay for genotoxicity studies have greatly increased during the past few decades14−16).
The comet assay (CA) was first introduced by Ostling and Johanson (1984)17) as a technique to determine DNA single-strand breaks that caused relax- ation of DNA supercoils. This technique was further modified by Singh et al. (1988)18). The CA or SCGE is a precise, simple and fast test that has been exten- sively used to calculate both in-vitro DNA damage and repair following exposure to a variety of geno- toxic agents and even for human biomonitoring19,20). Different possible modifications of the comet assay have helped in the detection of single strand breaks (SSBs), double-strand breaks (DSBs), alkali-labile sites, incomplete excision repair sites, inter-strand cross linkages and cell death or apoptosis21).
Considering the hazardous effects of X-rays and lack of awareness among radiation personnel, this study was conducted to assess the level of DNA
damages in local radiology technicians using the CA technique.