Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 3, 2025
05:22
Generation and Isolation of Cell Cycle-arrested Cells with Complex Karyotypes
Published on: April 13, 2018
10.7K
Chromosome Instability through the Ages: Parallels between Speciation and Somatic (Cancer) Evolution
Catriona MacDonald1, Sarah E McClelland2
1Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, The Royal Veterinary College, 4 Royal College St, London, NW1 0TU, UK.
Trends in Genetics : TIG
|June 4, 2021
Summary
Evolutionary theory aids cancer research by studying somatic genome evolution. Investigating chromosomal instability in species and tumor evolution can mutually benefit both fields.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Cancer genomics
Background:
- Cancer research increasingly uses evolutionary theory to understand somatic genome evolution in tumors.
- Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of cancer and a driver of evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the reciprocal relationship between species evolution and somatic evolution in cancer.
- To investigate how mechanistic principles of chromosomal instability inform both evolutionary biology and cancer research.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of evolutionary principles across species.
- Examination of chromosomal instability mechanisms in tumor development.
- Integration of theoretical frameworks from evolutionary biology and cancer genomics.
Main Results:
- Mechanistic insights into chromosomal instability can illuminate evolutionary trajectories in both species and tumors.
- Understanding species evolution provides a framework for analyzing somatic evolution in cancer.
- Reciprocal insights enhance the study of genome instability and its role in disease.
Conclusions:
- The integration of evolutionary theory and cancer research, particularly concerning chromosomal instability, offers significant mutual benefits.
- This interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of both fundamental evolutionary processes and cancer progression.
Related Concept Videos
02:21Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
13.4K
Cancer arises from mutations in the critical genes that allow healthy cells to escape cell cycle regulation and acquire the ability to proliferate indefinitely. Though originating from a single mutation event in one of the originator cells, cancer progresses when the mutant cell lines continue to gain more and more mutations, and finally, become malignant. For example, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) develops initially as a non-lethal increase in white blood cells, which progressively...
13.4K
02:08Gene Conversion
10.2K
Other than maintaining genome stability via DNA repair, homologous recombination plays an important role in diversifying the genome. In fact, the recombination of sequences forms the molecular basis of genomic evolution. Random and non-random permutations of genomic sequences create a library of new amalgamated sequences. These newly formed genomes can determine the fitness and survival of cells. In bacteria, homologous and non-homologous types of recombination lead to the evolution of new...
10.2K
02:53Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
6.1K
Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
6.1K
01:30Crossing Over
5.2K
Crossing over is the exchange of genetic information between homologous chromosomes during prophase I of meiosis I. Genetic recombination gives rise to allelic diversity in the newly formed daughter cells. In humans, crossing over produces genetically distinct haploid egg and sperm cells that undergo fertilization to produce unique offspring. Before cell division starts, the germ cell’s chromosome(s) undergo duplication in the S phase of the cell cycle. As the cells enter prophase I,...
5.2K
01:34Crossing Over
151.1K
Unlike mitosis, meiosis aims for genetic diversity in its creation of haploid gametes. Dividing germ cells first begin this process in prophase I, where each chromosome—replicated in S phase—is now composed of two sister chromatids (identical copies) joined centrally.
The homologous pairs of sister chromosomes—one from the maternal and one from the paternal genome—then begin to align alongside each other lengthwise, matching corresponding DNA positions in a process...
The homologous pairs of sister chromosomes—one from the maternal and one from the paternal genome—then begin to align alongside each other lengthwise, matching corresponding DNA positions in a process...
151.1K
02:07Tumor Progression
6.7K
Tumor progression is a phenomenon where the pre-formed tumor acquires successive mutations to become clinically more aggressive and malignant. In the 1950s, Foulds first described the stepwise progression of cancer cells through successive stages.
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
6.7K