This week, scientists have gained an unprecedented insight into the cancer genome – the full range of genes found in cancer cells. Massive experiments looking at almost all the known genes in the human genome have revealed fascinating genetic changes in two of the most lethal human cancers: pancreatic cancer and a type of brain cancer, glioblastoma. The results were published in three papers in the journals Science and Nature. Let’s take a look at them.
The researchers painstakingly scanned the genomes of the cancer cells, searching for small changes in their DNA (‘point mutations’) and for areas where genes had been either deleted or ‘copied and pasted’ next to each other. These are the types of genetic errors that distinguish normal cells from cancerous ones. To test whether these gene changes actually made a difference to the way the cell worked, the researchers also looked for changes in the levels of the proteins that are produced from these genes.
Posted by Ed Yong 
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