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Updated: May 29, 2026

Generation and Isolation of Cell Cycle-arrested Cells with Complex Karyotypes
Published on: April 13, 2018
The aneuploidy paradox: costs and benefits of an incorrect karyotype
Jason M Sheltzer1, Angelika Amon
1David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Aneuploidy has a paradoxical effect on cell proliferation. In all normal cells analyzed to date, aneuploidy has been found to decrease the rate of cell proliferation. Yet, aneuploidy is also a hallmark of cancer, a disease of enhanced proliferative capacity, and aneuploid cells are frequently recovered following the experimental evolution of microorganisms. Thus, in certain contexts, aneuploidy might also have growth-advantageous properties. New models of aneuploidy and chromosomal instability have shed light on the diverse effects that karyotypic imbalances have on cellular phenotypes, and suggest novel ways of understanding the role of aneuploidy in development and disease.
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