September 13, 2018—DNA, comprising a sequence of four bases (A, T, C and G), can be mutated in several different ways, for example C can mutate to A, or T to A etc. Different causes of mutation, such as UV light, result in distinct combinations of these mutations, called mutational signatures. Study of these mutational signatures allows scientists to learn more about the mechanisms that caused the mutations. In this article published in Genome Biology, Marketa Tomkova, Skirmantas Kriaucionis and Benjamin Schuster-Böckler explore how DNA replication timing and strand asymmetry affect mutational signatures, even those caused by chemical mutagens.
