Of the approximately 35,000 genes in the human genome, scientists at the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that activity from just 67 is required to change normal human cells into cancer. These 67 genes constitute what U-M scientists call cancer’s meta-signature – a core set of essential genes, which somehow triggers the transformation from normal cells to cells that are neoplastic, or growing abnormally. A list of these genes, and a description of a new database used to identify them, will be published June 7 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
