Somatic mutation in normal tissues

Abstract

Somatic mutations underpin cancer development and have been speculated to contribute to ageing and a range of diseases. Over the past decade, the ability to sequence cancer genomes has transformed our understanding of the genetics and evolution of a wide range of cancers. However, owing to technical limitations, much less is known about the earliest steps of cancer and how cells in our tissues accumulate mutations during normal ageing. In this talk, I will summarise our work over the past few years to unravel the extent of somatic mutation and clonal selection in normal tissues. I will also discuss how recent technological developments are opening new frontiers in this nascent and exciting field.