PCAWG, the largest cancer research consortium in the world, has set itself the task of improving our understanding of genetic mutations in tumors. A new study by the international research group, to which researchers in Dr. Roland Schwarz’ group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) substantially contributed, is now being published in the journal Nature.
Using high-performance computers and cloud computing, BIFOLD senior researcher Dr. Schwarz and his team at MDC have found out that such alterations in copy number play a decisive role in the altered gene expression of cancer cells. “By analyzing the DNA sequences of the entire genome, we have been able to accurately determine how copy number variants work together with point mutations – and what influence this in turn has on the expression of a specific parental allele,” Schwarz explains.
For more information on the topic, please visit https://www.mdc-berlin.de/news/press/PCAWG