To what extent is cancer development deterministic? Does the germline genome affect that predictability? We re-ran cancer evolution to answer these questions. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thread from @s-j-aitken.bsky.social explaining our new paper that finds strong epistatic interactions between germline genetic background and somatic driver mutations that set the course of cancer development.

Sarah Aitken@s-j-aitken.bsky.social · last wk.

🧬NEW PAPER🧬 To what extent is cancer development deterministic? Does the germline genome affect that predictability? Find out in our #StrainDifferences paper @nature.com "Genetic background sets the trajectory of experimental cancer evolution" www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵[1/14]

new out in Nature www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Genetic background sets the trajectory of experimental cancer evolution - Nature

Experimentally replaying tumour evolution in divergent mouse strains reveals the importance of interactions between genetic ancestry and acquired cancer-driving mutations in shaping the earliest stage...

nature.com

Please help me find a great student! I have a PhD position in my lab in Munich, looking at the dynamics of DNA damage and repair from chemotherapy: jobs.dkfz.de/en/jobs/1686... The application deadline is 02.07.26 @dkfz.bsky.social @lmu-klinikum.bsky.social

PhD Student in Mutagenic Chemotherapy Driving Treatment Resistance

jobs.dkfz.de

Interested in DNA damage and the mechanisms of mutagenesis? We are hiring post-doctoral scientists as part of the amazing CAUSE Cancer Grand Challenge team. Biochemistry, genomics and computational biology... tinyurl.com/yc5xs3wa tinyurl.com/4unu5uu9 CAUSE www.cancergrandchallenges.org/cause

📖 My book BEYOND INHERITANCE is out today. tinyurl.com/5yjsr97n This journey started with a fact I couldn’t ignore: Even in otherwise healthy adults, mutant cells can appear in the blood—quietly doubling the risk of heart disease and stroke.

A whole new world… Inigo Martincorena presents paradigm shifting work showing a key role for somatic evolution in autoimmune disease. Long-term, polyclonal, multistage evolution #MITS2026

We’re excited to reveal that team CAUSE led by Ludmil Alexandrov at @ucsandiego.bsky.social has been selected by @cancergrand.bsky.social to receive up to $25m over approx 5 years to take on one of cancer’s toughest challenges. Congratulations @mstaylor.bsky.social from IGC & team: edin.ac/4kYC1iR

The exciting next instalment of Mutations in Time and Space... Open for registration now

Wellcome Connecting Science Learning and Training@eventswcs.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Explore the origins, patterns and consequences of mutations across biological systems! #MITS26 🗓️ Conference dates: 13-15 April 2026 Participate in expert-led knowledge exchange on how genome evolution shapes human health and ageing 🧬 Check out our exciting speakers ➡️ bit.ly/4hmbnyr #Genomics

I'm very pleased to announce the official publication of our lab's paper "DNA mutagenesis driven by transcription factor competition with mismatch repair" in today's issue of Cell! www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

DNA mutagenesis driven by transcription factor competition with mismatch repair

Competition between transcription factors and mismatch repair machinery drives localized hypermutation at regulatory elements, with implications for cancer and genome evolution.

cell.com

IGC is looking for a Core Facility Bioinformatician to provide bioinformatics expertise and support to researchers across the Institute, working at the intersection of computational and experimental science. Find out more and apply by 13 October: edin.ac/3R5dEBU @cmvm-edinburghuni.bsky.social

Would you like to do some unique experiments in cancer genomics and mutagenesis, in beautiful Munich? Well then apply for this PhD position: jobs.dkfz.de/en/jobs/1679... You'll learn a lot and it'll be fun and interesting! #DKTK @dkfz.bsky.social @lmumuenchen.bsky.social

PhD Student in Mutational Processes Driving Somatic Evolution

jobs.dkfz.de

🔬Under the microscope: DNA damage tracked through cell generations🔬 It was a pleasure to write this #NewsAndViews with our PhD student Emma Reilly, online today @nature.com rdcu.be/em0qi @cruk-ci.bsky.social @spjacksongroup.bsky.social @yalepathology.bsky.social @yalecancer.bsky.social

My lab at hiring! - we have TWO postdoc positions (one computational, one wet lab focussed) at Yale @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social, working closely with our group members at University of Cambridge, UK @cambridgeuni.bsky.social Please help to spread the word! Adverts with full details below ⬇️

This is just brilliant. New tool dissects immune profiles from WGS. Gives novel insights into >90k (!) tumours, highlights circulating immune changes https://buff.ly/41y6Hzz Found with researchbriefing.com

ImmuneLENS characterizes systemic immune dysregulation in aging and cancer

Immune lymphocyte estimation from nucleotide sequencing (ImmuneLENS) infers B cell and T cell fractions from whole-genome sequencing data. Applied to the 100,000 Genomes Project datasets, circulating...

buff.ly

In science, we often see weird blips in the data. The question: is it artefact (usually!), or something new & exciting? We don’t always have time to dig deep. Our paper in @nature.com today came from just such a blip. So don’t ignore the weird stuff. Pull on that thread...

To what extent is cancer development deterministic and predictable..? Does the germline genome affect that predictability...? Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🌟NEW PREPRINT ALERT!🌟 We are very pleased to introduce #StrainDifferences: “Genetic background sets the trajectory of cancer evolution” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵[1/12]

Genetic background sets the trajectory of cancer evolution

Human cancers are heterogeneous. Their genomes evolve from genetically diverse germlines in complex and dynamic environments, including exposure to potential carcinogens. This heterogeneity of humans,...

biorxiv.org

Building on our discovery of #LesionSegregation, @mikespencerchapman.bsky.social and colleagues from @sangerinstitute.bsky.social find that some DNA lesions can persist in humans for months or years! "Prolonged persistence of mutagenic DNA lesions in somatic cells" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Prolonged persistence of mutagenic DNA lesions in somatic cells - Nature

Persistent DNA lesions can occur throughout the human lifespan and can remain in the genome of affected cells for several years and generate a substantial proportion of the mutational burden.

nature.com