Statistical issues arising from mouse micronucleus assay experiments of Ashby and co-workers

Data from a series of mouse micronucleus assays have been reanalysed to illustrate various statistical issues raised by Ashby and co-workers during the development of the assay. Most of the statistical points discussed in these earlier papers can be explained by the stochastic nature of the data. Reanalysis shows that the type of data collected in mammalian micronucleus assays is amenable to analysis by standard biometric methods. It is concluded that statistical analysis has an important role in the exploration and interpretation of data from the micronucleus assay.