Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Detecting Somatic Genetic Alterations in Tumor Specimens by Exon Capture and Massively Parallel Sequencing
Published on: October 18, 2013
SomaMutDB 2.0: A comprehensive database for exploring somatic mutations and their functional impact in normal human
Anthony Shea1,2, Shixiang Sun3, Justin Kennedy1,4
1Masonic Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States.
Abstract:
Recent advances in ultra-accurate sequencing technologies have revealed that somatic mutations accumulate throughout the human lifespan and may contribute to both normal aging and disease. These mutations are highly diverse, often non-recurrent, and functionally heterogeneous, making their biological impact difficult to evaluate systematically. Although many studies have profiled somatic mutations in individual tissues or limited cohorts, a centralized and scalable platform that integrates discoveries and supports functional interpretation has been lacking. To address this gap, we present SomaMutDB 2.0 (https://somamutdb.org/SomaMutDB/), a substantially expanded database cataloging 8.9 million mutations (8.57 million SNVs and 0.29 million INDELs) from 10 852 samples of 607 human subjects across 47 studies. Beyond expanded data coverage, SomaMutDB 2.0 introduces a comprehensive functional annotation framework applying 22 predictive models spanning coding, regulatory, expression-based, and ensemble predictors to systematically assess mutational impact. Users can browse pre-annotated variants through an interactive interface or upload their own variants for real-time analysis. Notably, all results are contextualized against mutations from normal, non-diseased tissues in the database, enabling more meaningful interpretation than raw scores alone. Together, these advances establish SomaMutDB 2.0 as the most comprehensive resource currently available for characterizing somatic mosaicism and its functional impact on human health and aging.
More Related Videos
08:46Implementation of In Vitro Drug Resistance Assays: Maximizing the Potential for Uncovering Clinically Relevant Resistance Mechanisms
Published on: December 9, 2015
07:47Author Spotlight: Unveiling Transmembrane Protein Family-Related Markers in Gastric Cancer and Implications for Targeted Therapies
Published on: September 15, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions
When the tumor suppressor genes develop mutations or are lost, cells start growing out of control, leading to cancer. However, a single functional copy of the tumor suppressor gene is enough for the cells to maintain their normal functions and cell...
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancer