The Wing-Spot and the Comet Tests as Useful Assays Detecting Genotoxicity in Drosophila

Despite its pioneering use in detecting mutational processes, Drosophila still plays a vital role in studies aimed at detecting and quantifying the induction of DNA damage. Here, we describe two assays: one detecting primary damage (the Comet assay) and the other detecting somatic mutation and recombination effects (the wing-spot test). It is essential to emphasize that somatic recombination is a key event in cancer, and no other assays exist to detect and quantify somatic recombination processes besides the spot tests developed in Drosophila.