![]() ![]() Don't rush to judgment about all of these chimera you find in cancer cells, because they could occur in normal cells." "There's a danger to assuming everything is cancer. "This is the main concept we want to let the field of cancer biology know: This kind of thing exists in normal physiology. In the new article, he seeks to increase scientists' awareness of this important nuance in our genetic understanding, and he cautions them that failure to consider the role of normal chimeras could lead to conclusions that are inaccurate, incomplete or flat-out wrong. There's another layer of complexity."īecause of Li's pioneering work, the scientific journal Trends in Cancer invited him to provide an opinion piece outlining the state of his field's research and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Because a lot of normal physiology also has fusion RNAs. We can't just say, OK, we found a fusion, it must be a cancer marker, let's translate it into a biomarker ," Li said. ![]() … It basically says the old practice of finding any fusion RNA and claiming it's a cancer fusion is over. "This is actually a double-edged sword for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Instead, these strange fusions can also be a normal, functional part of our genetic programming. But Li's work shows that's not always the case. Researchers have traditionally assumed these chimeric RNA are signs of cancer, of something gone wrong in the genetic transcription process. He seeks to understand what is called chimeric RNA - genetic material that results when genes on two different chromosomes produce "fusion" RNA in a way scientists say shouldn't happen. Hui Li, PhD, of the Department of Pathology and the UVA Cancer Center, is a pioneer in a small but emerging field that is challenging fundamental assumptions about human genetics. ![]()
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