While most known types of DNA damage are fixed by our cells' in-house DNA repair mechanisms, some forms of DNA damage evade repair and can persist for many years, new research shows. This means that ...

From the time we are conceived and through old age, genetic mutations accumulate in all our tissues, eluding the body's typically efficient DNA repair machinery and potentially affecting our health ...

Cancer genomes are the result of diverse mutation processes that have often accumulated over decades. Scientists have analyzed the molecular evolution of tumors after exposure to mutagenic chemicals.

Mitochondria act as energy factories in cells and have their own, separate DNA. Mutations to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been observed in cancer, but it has been unclear how these changes might ...

Researchers have refined a powerful DNA sequencing tool that can uncover hidden mutations that occur naturally in our bodies as we age. In the largest study to date, they have used the tool to provide ...