Micronuclei are cytoplasmic chromatin masses with the appearance of small nuclei that arise from lagging chromosomes at anaphase or from acentric chromosome fragments. These are formed by chromosomal damage in the basal cells of the epithelium. When these cells divide, the chromosomal fragmentslag behind, and are excluded from the main nuclei of the daughter cell. Therefore micronuclei contain genetic material that is lost from genome duringmitosis. These fragments form their own membranes and appear as Feulgen-specific bodies, and termed as micronucleus in the cell cytoplasm and it is these cells that later mature and are exfoliated. Habits like tobacco consumption and betel nut chewing leads to such genetic errors and changes as a part of multistep process of carcinogenesis