Genomic instability is an invariant feature of tumours.
This can be manifested as, for example, chromosomal rearrangements or aneuploidy. In some cases, inherent genomic instability is an important primary event in carcinogenesis, such as is seen in individual carrying germ-line mutations in certain DNA repair genes associated with elevated cancer risk. In other cases, genomic instability may manifest only later, during the progression phase of tumourigenesis, and may in this case be an important driving force responsible for accelerating the rate of tumour-specific mutation induction. This laboratory studies various different aspects of the genetic control of genomic stability in eukaryotes. One family member, BLM, is mutated in individuals with the autosomal recessive disorder Bloom's Syndrome, which is associated with a greatly increased incidence of cancers.