Genetic alterations under positive selection in healthy tissues have implications for cancer risk. However, total levels of positive selection across the genome remain unknown. Passenger mutations are influenced by all driver mutations, regardless of type or location in the genome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSomatic mutations acquired in healthy tissues as we age are major determinants of cancer risk. Whether variants confer a fitness advantage or rise to detectable frequencies by chance remains largely unknown. Blood sequencing data from ~50,000 individuals reveal how mutation, genetic drift, and fitness shape the genetic diversity of healthy blood (clonal hematopoiesis).
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