During the height of the pandemic, as scientists worldwide raced to develop a vaccine, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) emerged as a flashpoint of controversy. Pitting proponents of using the drug to fight COVID-19 against skeptics citing a lack of evidence of efficacy, the debate spilled into public view, polarizing national and international opinion.

Now, a new study published in the journal DNA Repair shows, for the first time, HCQ’s genotoxicity in mammalian cells. The study was led by Ahmad Besaratinia, PhD, professor of research in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

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