Automatic Scoring of Dicentric Chromosomes

The analysis of chromosomal aberrations is an established method to evaluate toxic effects on the genome caused by external influences, e.g. radiation, pollution, medication, and others. Dicentric chromosomes are here often used as leading type of aberrations. Especially when it comes to unpredicted events, for example accidents where unknown amounts of ionizing radiation were released, the chromosomal aberration test is of utmost importance to estimate the overall dose to which potential victims were exposed (biological dosimetry). Unfortunately the analysis of chromosomal rearrangements is time consuming and tedious, which is an obstacle in an emergency situation such as a radiation accident. The Metafersoftware upgrade DCScore is the perfect answer to this problem. DCScore is capable to automatically and unattended score dicentric chromosomes in a high throughput mode, and can even be applied by people who are relatively untrained in the analysis of chromosomal aberrations. DCScore is fast, and its usefulness for population triages has been proven to be equivalent to and as reliable as manual analyses.