Tracing the footprints of a tumor: Genomic 'scars' allow cancer profiling

(CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences) Mutations driving cancer development leave behind specific 'scars,' so-called mutational signatures, in the genome. In principle, they allow for profiling of the cancer type and its development -- but the noisy environment of a cancer genome makes correlations difficult. Using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, researchers at CeMM and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute were able to show for the first time that specific genetic alterations indeed lead to the predicted mutational signatures observed in human cancers.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news