Redefining normal: Study shows mutations even in healthy tissues throughout the body
New research shows that cells in healthy tissues have more mutations than previously thought, including some known to drive cancer.
For years, the prevailing wisdom has been that our cells contain genes that are essentially carbon copies of each other. That notion is being dashed by studies painting a different picture — one in which even “normal” cells and tissues accumulate mutations over time.
New research out of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has identified mutations in normal tissues throughout the body, including some known to drive cancer.
A large-scale analysis examined more than 6,700 samples of normal human tissue from 29 major tissue groups — from brain and bladder to breast and prostate tissue. The researchers used RNA sequencing data
