微核（MN）是一种核异常，当染色体片段或整个染色体在有丝分裂过程中未正确分离并因此被排除在主核之外并包裹在核膜内形成小核时发生。这种遗传物质分布不均会导致细胞基因组异常，从而可能增加发育缺陷、癌症和加速衰老的风险。尽管 MN 作为遗传毒性生物标志物具有潜在的重要性，但在 20 世纪 80 年代之前，人们对测量人类 MN 的最佳方法、健康人类 MN 值的正常范围以及 MN 与发育和退行性疾病的前瞻性关联知之甚少。 。 1980 年代初期，开发了两种测量人类 MN 的重要方法，即使用外周血淋巴细胞的胞质分裂阻断 MN (CBMN) 测定和测量口腔粘膜上皮细胞中 MN 的颊 MN 测定。这些发现大大增加了在人类研究中使用 MN 测定的兴趣。 1997 年，人类微核 (HUMN) 项目成立，旨在启动国际合作，以 (i) 协调和标准化用于进行淋巴细胞 CBMN 测定和颊 MN 测定的技术； (ii) 建立和整理世界各地人群的 MN 频率数据库，该数据库还捕获了人口、生活方式和环境基因毒素暴露数据，并且 (iii) 使用这些数据来确定影响 MN 频率的最重要变量，并确定 MN 是否可以预测疾病风险。在本文中，我们简要描述了 HUMN 项目从 1997 年 9 月 9 日成立之日起至 2023 年成立 26 周年期间所取得的成就，其中包括全球范围内的 200 多份出版物和 23 个研讨会。版权所有 © 2024 作者。由 Elsevier B.V. 出版。保留所有权利。

Micronuclei (MN) are a nuclear abnormality that occurs when chromosome fragments or whole chromosomes are not properly segregated during mitosis and consequently are excluded from the main nuclei and wrapped within nuclear membrane to form small nuclei. This maldistribution of genetic material leads to abnormal cellular genomes which may increase risk of developmental defects, cancers, and accelerated aging. Despite the potential importance of MN as biomarkers of genotoxicity, very little was known about the optimal way to measure MN in humans, the normal ranges of values of MN in healthy humans and the prospective association of MN with developmental and degenerative diseases prior to the 1980's. In the early 1980's two important methods to measure MN in humans were developed namely, the cytokinesis-block MN (CBMN) assay using peripheral blood lymphocytes and the Buccal MN assay that measures MN in epithelial cells from the oral mucosa. These discoveries greatly increased interest to use MN assays in human studies. In 1997 the Human Micronucleus (HUMN) project was founded to initiate an international collaboration to (i) harmonise and standardise the techniques used to perform the lymphocyte CBMN assay and the Buccal MN assay; (ii) establish and collate databases of MN frequency in human populations world-wide which also captured demographic, lifestyle and environmental genotoxin exposure data and (iii) use these data to identify the most important variables affecting MN frequency and to also determine whether MN predict disease risk. In this paper we briefly describe the achievements of the HUMN project during the period from the date of its foundation on 9th September 1997 until its 26th Anniversary in 2023, which included more than 200 publications and 23 workshops world-wide.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.