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Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 10, 371 (1 June 2009) | doi:10.1038/nrm2700

DNA repair: Time to switch

Katharine H. Wrighton

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired throughout the cell cycle to ensure genome integrity. Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ) pathways — in which DNA break ends are ligated in the absence of a homologous template — operate in the G1 phase of the cell cycle, but they are prone to errors.