Dose to the Cellular DNA

having considered all of the possible interactions of the agent under investigation with the various components of the test system (solvents, medium, serum, cell constituents, etc.), we come to the basic question of the local dose of the agent to the cellular DNA. 

Roberts et al. (1971) have shown that in the case of alkylating agents the degree of cellular inactivation, in terms of colony-forming ability, is best correlated to the amount of alkylation, rather than the initial dose, of the agent. Another approach is to assay the damage to transforming DNA treated in vitro as mentioned above (Mather et al., 1971). 

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