Patent ID: 6913878

Claim:
A method of detecting increased levels of DNA single strand breaks in a eukaryotic cell sample, comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a eukaryotic cell sample to a water-soluble tetrazolium salt under conditions in which said tetrazolium salt is converted to a formazan dye in said cell sample in the presence of NADH or NADPH; and then (b) detecting the presence of said formazan dye in said cell sample, with decreased levels of said formazan dye indicating increased levels of DNA single strand breaks in said eukaryotic cell sample; wherein a test compound is contacted to said cell sample before or during said contacting step (a), with increased levels of single stranded breaks indicating said test compound is genotoxic to said cell sample, and reduced levels of single stranded breaks indicating said test compound is protective to said cell sample.