Same tissue, different genes

摘要

Researchers have found that two healthy cells from the same tissue of an individual do not necessarily have identical genes. To investigate the scope of genomic variation between tissues, Maeve O'Huallachain et al. (pp. 18018-18023) examined variations in the copy numbers of certain DNA segments, often encoding genes, in cells obtained from diverse tissues of six individuals. Recent research has identified copy number variations between individuals, in embryonic stem cells, induced pluripo-tent stem (iPS) cells, and immortalized cell lines. Abnormal gene copy number has also been associated with some cancers and developmental diseases. However, whether copy number variations are common in a single individual's healthy tissues has remained uncertain.