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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Assessing Somatic Hypermutation in Ramos B Cells after Overexpression or Knockdown of Specific Genes
Published on: November 1, 2011
[Rate of the spontaneous mutation process in mammalian somatic cells and several related questions]
Abstract:
Various criteria are considered according to which newly arising hereditary changes in somatic mammalian cells can be classified as mutations. The analysis of experimental data reveals that the similarity of spontaneous mutation rates in somatic and germinal cells per generation, implies drastic differences in the probability of their arising per time unit: the mutation rate per time unit is considerably higher in somatic than in germ cells. This phenomenon is discussed from the viewpoint of the spontaneous mutation rate level as an adaptive character of species. The role of spontaneous mutations in ontogenesis is considered.
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