UT Southwestern Researchers Discover Mechanism Responsible for Genome Rearrangements

The goal of every dividing cell is to accurately segregate its genome into two genetically identical daughter cells. However, this process often goes awry and may be responsible for a new class of chromosomal abnormalities found in cancers and congenital disorders, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists report in a new study. The discovery, published in Nature, sheds light on how cancer cells rapidly evolve genomic changes that fuel their proliferation.

Peter Ly, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at UT Southwestern and a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar in Cancer Research.

“Cancer genomes are remarkably complex. Our findings provide a fundamental understanding of how diverse patterns of chromosomal alterations form and drive cancer development,” said Peter Ly, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at UT Southwestern, who co-led the study with Yu-Fen Lin, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist.