Errors made by ‘DNA spellchecker’ revealed as important cause of cancer

Important processes that create mutations that cause cancer have been identified by researchers studying the genomes of more than 1,000 tumors. Many mutations in human cancers are caused by mistakes made by a repair mechanism or ‘DNA spellchecker’ rather than the actual damage to DNA caused by the environment. Sunlight and alcohol consumption increase the rate at which this happens, resulting in more mutations in the most important parts of our genomes, add the investigators. …read more