Publication news: “Mechanisms generating cancer genome complexity from a single cell division error”

Cancer genomes are characterized by a plethora of different mutations, deletions, translocations and other DNA modifications. The mechanism that leads to chromosomal translocations has recently been deciphered by Dr. Neil Umbreit and his team from Harvard Medical School.

To investigate the genome of two daughter cells after mitosis with chromosome bridges, Dr. Neil Umbreit separately isolated each daughter cell using the MMI CellEctor system and subjected them to DNA sequencing. This method called “Look-Seq” allows to study individual cells both by their phenotype and by their genotype.

Dr. Neil Umbreit identified a cascade of mutational events that explains how the chromosome bridge formation as a single cell division error can rapidly generate many hallmark features of cancer genomes, including ongoing genome evolution with subclonal heterogeneity.

The study has been published in Science. Click here to read the full publication.

Dr. Neil Umbreit recently joined one of our webinars as a guest speaker. You will find the recording of his talk and by other presenters here.