Somatic Sex – the development of malignant diseases reinterpreted

How do malignant diseases develop?

In his recent publication, Oskar Haas from St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute suggests that the unique chromosome patterns, which define specific tumor types, arise from an accidental fusion of two normal cells – a process that simulates the fertilization of an egg with a sperm cell. This novel view represents a paradigm shift that offers fresh perspectives for basic research, the prognostic classification as well as for the treatment of such diseases.

Haas OA, Somatic sex: On the origin of neoplasms with chromosome counts in uneven ploidy ranges. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.631946