Talk Title:

Somatic mutation and clonal expansion in normal tissues

Abstract:

Cancers develop by somatic mutation and clonal selection within our tissues. Over the past decade, the ability to sequence cancer genomes has transformed our understanding of the genetics and evolution of a wide range of cancers. However, owing to technical limitations, little is known about the earliest steps of cancer and how cells in our tissues accumulate mutations during normal ageing and in their progression towards cancer. In this talk, I will present our work unveiling a hidden and unexpected world of cellular competition and somatic evolution in human healthy tissues, with implications for our understanding of cancer and ageing.