Mosaicism in health and disease — clones picking up speed

Many genetic studies focus on germline-inherited genomic variation. However, there is increasing realization that mutations occurring during our lifetime are so frequent and pervasive that, in all likelihood, no two of our cells are truly genetically identical. In this Review, the authors describe the detection, molecular nature and dynamics of this under-appreciated post-zygotic variation, and discuss the implications for normal human physiology and disease.

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