The reverse transcriptase model of somatic hypermutation
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. ted_steele@uow.edu.au
Abstract:
The evidence supporting the reverse transcriptase model of somatic hypermutation is critically reviewed. The model provides a coherent explanation for many apparently unrelated findings. We also show that the somatic hypermutation pattern in the human BCL-6 gene can be interpreted in terms of the reverse transcriptase model and the notion of feedback of somatically mutated sequences to the germline over evolutionary time.
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