Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Transmitochondrial Cybrid Generation Using Cancer Cell Lines
Published on: March 17, 2023
Human cancers express mutator phenotypes: origin, consequences and targeting
1Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. laloeb@u.washington.edu
Abstract:
Recent data on DNA sequencing of human tumours have established that cancer cells contain thousands of mutations. These data support the concept that cancer cells express a mutator phenotype. This Perspective considers the evidence supporting the mutator phenotype hypothesis, the origin and consequences of a mutator phenotype, the implications for personalized medicine and the feasibility of ablating tumours by error catastrophe.
Insights
Cancer cells exhibit a mutator phenotype, accumulating thousands of DNA mutations. This perspective explores the mutator phenotype hypothesis, its implications for personalized cancer medicine, and potential error catastrophe therapies.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Cancer Biology
- Molecular Oncology
Related Concept Videos
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Mismatch Repair
The Mutator Protein Family Plays a Key Role in DNA Mismatch Repair
The human genome has more than 3 billion base pairs of DNA per cell. Prior to cell division, that vast amount of genetic...
Mismatch Repair
Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity
Mutations

