Genetics and Genetic Disorders

Genome Integrity

Genome instability is mainly due to sporadic replication or repair errors but can also take place in response to developmental or environmental signals, as occurs in meiosis, and antigen receptor and immunoglobulin gene diversification in T and B cells. Genomes are transmitted faithfully from dividing cells to their offspring. Changes that occur during DNA repair, chromosome duplication, and transmission or via recombination provide a natural source of genetic variation. They occur at low frequency because of the intrinsic variable nature of genomes, which we refer to as genome instability. However, genome instability can be enhanced by exposure to external genotoxic agents or as the result of cellular pathologies.