Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
A new technique using a simple cheek swab could emerge as a “useful tool” to detect gene mutations in healthy tissues cancer Prevention”, researchers have suggested.
Experts speculate that the mapping of these mutations—often the result of Ageingsmoking, and heavy drinking – may eventually serve as “measurable indicators of cancer risk”.
A team led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in collaboration with the TwinsUK study at King’s College London, has refined nanorate sequencing (NanoSeq), which allows scientists to study genetic changes with unprecedented accuracy.
in dna The changes, known as somatic mutations, occur naturally with age and are mostly harmless. However, some mutations give cells a growth advantage, meaning they can clone cells with similar mutations.
These patches have the potential to become early stages of cancer.
For the study, researchers used NanoSeq to analyze cheek swabs as well as 371 blood samples from 1,042 people taking part in the TwinsUK study.
The volunteers ranged in age from 21 to 91, and included smokers, non-smokers, and people who drank varying levels of alcohol.
The analysis found more than 340,000 mutations in the cheek cells, including more than 62,000 in genes known to promote cancer, while 49 genes had mutations that gave the cells a growth advantage.
“This is the largest study to date of how somatic mutations accumulate in human tissue as a result of aging, smoking, alcohol, biological sex and other risk factors,” said Dr. Federico Abascal of the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
“Mutational scenarios may one day be used as measurable indicators of cancer risk, allowing earlier and more precise intervention.”
The study, published in NatureAlso showed patterns of mutation associated with aging, smoking and alcohol consumption.
Patients who smoked had more mutations in the NOTCH1 gene, which is linked to several diseases, while heavy drinkers also had a pattern of DNA changes.
The researchers said most of the mutations in normal tissue were small and did not increase consistently over time.
Senior author Dr Inigo Martincorena, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “With NanoSeq, we are able to measure the genetic consequences of certain lifestyle factors in normal tissues, meaning we can better understand why and how they cause cancer.
“We hope that this new ability to study somatic mutations in non-invasive tissue biopsies of healthy individuals will become a useful tool for cancer prevention, improving our ability to identify mutants and carcinogenic risks in populations and helping discover cancer preventive drugs.”
Elsewhere, experts also used NanoSeq to find out how harmful changes occur in DNA Sperm The cells may increase as men age.
Sperm samples from 81 men aged 24 to 75 collected as part of the TwinsUK study found that about 2 per cent of sperm from men aged 30 had the disease-causing mutation, rising to 3-5 per cent for middle-aged men and older men.
Professor Matt Hurles, director of the Wellcome Sanger Institute and co-author, said: “Our findings reveal a hidden genetic risk that increases with father’s age.
“Some changes in DNA not only survive but thrive within the testicles, meaning that fathers who conceive later in life may have a higher risk of unknowingly passing harmful mutations to their children.”