Discoveries
Researchers eye new way of studying DNA repair crew
Many cells in the body contain a "damage response team" — a group of genes that initiate the repair of abnormal DNA. When that repair doesn't occur because of defects in the gene's damage response, cells can progress toward cancer.
In a recent study, scientists at Dana-Farber tested an approach that may be able to identify new genes involved in DNA repair. Using cells from the worm C. elegans, they combined a protein-mapping technique with an analysis of the worm's genome (its complete set of genes) and discovered 11 genes that had not been known to be associated with correcting DNA errors. One of those genes is structurally similar to a human gene that is often abnormal in people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, suggesting that it may be partly responsible for the disease.
The researchers concluded that the two techniques could help scientists identify and study genes involved in human cancer and other diseases.
The lead author of the investigation, which appeared in the January 2002 issue of Science, was Simon Boulton, PhD, and the senior author was Marc Vidal, PhD, both of the Adult Oncology Department.
