Researchers have developed a new genetic tool in mice to speed the discovery of novel genes involved in cancer. They're calling it PiggyBac, and it provides biological validation to human mutations identified by cancer genome sequencing.
The PiggyBac process involves shipping cargoes of genetic material--called transposons--around the genome using an engine known as a transposase. The transposons can jump from gene to gene, from chromosome to chromosome, disrupting or altering the activity of the genes where they land.
"Far from being destructive, this process is empowering our search for genes underlying cancer," Professor Allan Bradley of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and senior author on the paper says in a news release. "Some genes, when disrupted, will push cells along the road to tumour development. When we look at the tumours that develop in our mice, we can search for the molecular fingerprint of the transposons in the genome; this allows us to identify the disrupted genes that are the cause. But what is extraordinary about this new model is its adaptability--with PiggyBac, we can look at specific organs, we can switch genes on and switch genes off, we can look for cancer genes across the whole genome.”
Genomes in cancer cells can be ravaged by hundreds or thousands of mutations. But, according to the Sanger Institute, by looking at cancers modelled in the mouse, teams can begin to understand which, among the thousands of mutations present, is the cause.
- see the release, and a diagram of PiggyBac