Junk DNA goodbye!: can affect inherited cancer risk: (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, December 08, 2019, 22:08 (1812 days ago) @ David Turell

Changes in gene suppression areas can callow cancer to occur:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191205224221.htm

"A person's risk of developing cancer is affected by genetic variations in regions of DNA that don't code for proteins, previously dismissed as 'junk DNA', according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer today (Friday).

"This new study shows that inherited cancer risk is not only affected by mutations in key cancer genes -- known as oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes -- but that variations in the DNA that controls the expression of these genes can also drive the disease.

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"Unlike mutations in coding DNA, such as BRCA, that are rare but significantly raise a person's risk of developing cancer, non-coding SNPs are relatively common in the population but only slightly increase cancer risk.

"The team analysed whether there was a correlation between the presence of a particular SNP and the expression of particular genes. In total, they looked at over 6 million genetic variants across 13 different body tissues.

"They found that variations in the regions that regulate the expression of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes affect cancer risk. The study also revealed that these cancer-risk SNPs tend to be specifically located in regions that regulate the immune system and tissue-specific processes -- highlighting the importance of these cellular processes to the development of cancer.

"Professor John Quackenbush, lead researcher of the study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said: "What we found surprised us as it had never been reported before -- our results show that small genetic variations work collectively to subtly shift the activity of genes that drive cancer. We hope that this approach could one day save lives by helping to identify people at risk of cancer, as well as other complex diseases.'"

Comment: More non-coding DNA is found to have function. The estimate from the ENCODE study of a few years ago estimated 80% percent of DNA has function. It looks more and more as correct.