Study of DNA mutations

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are using a new computational tool to analyze mutations in non-coding areas of DNA, formerly known as “junk DNA.”  “The tool they developed is called PANGEA (predictive analysis of noncoding genomic enhancer/promoter alterations). They used it to look at different types of mutations including point mutations, copy number variations, indels, and structural variations. The analysis showed that 1,137 structural variants were affecting the expression of over 2000 genes in five types of pediatric cancers; they are potentially the most common kind of cancer-causing mutations.”   MORE

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