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Genetic recombination

From competition to collaboration

Nature volume 391, pages 335–337 (1998)Cite this article

Politics and science furnish many examples of the dramatically different effects of competition and collaboration. Similar phenomena occur at the molecular level in nature, and four reports1,2,3,4 (three of them in this issue2,3,4, beginning on page 401) demonstrate the point. They show that competition between two proteins required for genetic recombination is turned into fruitful collaboration by a third participant, the Rad52 protein.

Genetic recombination, the exchange of information between DNA chains, accomplishes two seemingly conflicting tasks — generation of genetic diversity within species, and maintenance of genetic stability by repairing DNA damage. Whether recombination results in diversity or stability depends on whether the exchanges occur between homologous chromosomes during meiosis or between identical sister chromatids. Clinically, genetic recombination has attracted attention because of possible cross-talk between the breast-cancer-susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, and the recombination machinery5; biologically, its importance is underscored by the conservation of its salient features from fungi to humans.

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Figure 1: The function of Rad52 in genetic recombination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Roland Kanaar & Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers

  2. Roland Kanaar & Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers

Authors
  1. Roland Kanaar
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  2. Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers
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Kanaar, R., Hoeijmakers, J. From competition to collaboration. Nature 391, 335–337 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/34790

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