Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Genomics reveal unknown mutation-promoting agents at global sites

Genetic sequencing of human kidney cancers worldwide has revealed associations between geographical locations and specific mutation patterns, indicating exposure to known and unknown mutation-promoting agents.
  1. Irene Franco

    1. Irene Franco is in the Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy and at IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Fran Supek

    1. Fran Supek is at the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark, and at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Daily exposure to chemical agents can cause cells in the body to accumulate genetic changes called somatic mutations. Most of these changes do not appreciably affect cellular function, but a small fraction can corrupt genetic instructions and turn a normal cell into a cancer cell. Writing in Nature, Senkin et al.1 report their study of more than 900 samples of a type of kidney tumour, called clear cell renal cell carcinoma, from different parts of the world.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 629, 767-768 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01190-6

References

  1. Senkin, S. et al. Nature 629, 910–918 (2024).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sosinsky, A. et al. Nature Med. 30, 279–289 (2024).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Helleday, T., Eshtad, S. & Nik-Zainal, S. Nature Rev. Genet. 15, 585–598 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Alexandrov, L. B. et al. Nature 578, 94–101 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Delhomme, T. M. et al. Sci. Rep. 13, 9791 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Kucab, J. E. et al. Cell 177, 821–836 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. de Kanter, J. K. et al. Cell Stem Cell 28, 1726–1739 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Olafsson, S. et al. Nature Genet. 55, 1892–1900 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Scelo, G. et al. Nature Commun. 5, 5135 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Franco, I. et al. Genome Biol. 20, 285 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Peired, A. J., Lazzeri, E., Guzzi, F., Anders, H.-J. & Romagnani, P. Kidney Int. 100, 55–66 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Jacobson, D. H., Pan, S., Fisher, J. & Secrier, M. Genome Med. 15, 90 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Levatić, J., Salvadores, M., Fuster-Tormo, F. & Supek, F. Nature Commun. 13, 2926 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links