Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
Wash U Scientists Sequence 50 AML Tumors and 2 Breast Cancer Metastatic Tumors from Lung and Liver
The researchers are currently analyzing the unpublished sequencing data and said at last week's Biology of Genomes meeting at Cold Spring Harbor that the variety of cancer sequencing projects are yielding relevant information about tumorigenesis and disease progression.
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