Contact: Gina Kirchweger
Kirchweger@salk.edu
858-453-4100
Salk Institute

FISH-ing for Links Between Cancer and Aging

Caption: The chromosomes were isolated from a cell taken from a patient with Werner Syndrome, a premature aging disease that is caused by the loss of the WRN gene. Painting each chromosome pair in a different color reveals the breakage and fusion of chromosomes (see chromosomes 6 and 10), which causes genomic instability and could explain the high incidence of cancer among individuals with Werner syndrome.

Credit: Image courtesy of Dr. Anna Jauch, Institute of Human Genetics in Heidelberg, Germany.

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