Alex Cagan
University Assistant Professor at Cambridge
Alex Cagan investigates evolutionary processes in somatic tissue. His research focuses on characterising mutation and selection in healthy tissues and how this relates to cancer and ageing.
Evolution is often considered to be an almost imperceptibly slow process. However, the cells that compose our own bodies are constantly acquiring mutations. Some of these mutations may influence cellular phenotypes, such as growth, resulting in clonal expansions. Over time the body may become a patchwork of clones.
These processes may have profound implications for cancer progression and ageing. Due to technical limitations this evolutionary landscape has remained almost totally unexplored. I work with laser capture microdissection and genome sequencing to describe and understand processes of somatic evolution. I seek to adapt methods from comparative evolutionary genomics to gain new insights into evolution within the body.
Visit website: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/person/cagan-alex/
See also: Wellcome Sanger Institute - Center for genomic discovery.
Details last updated 15-Apr-2022
Alex Cagan News
Cambridge scientists are making significant strides in understanding ageing
Cambridge Independent - 05-Jan-2024
Promising leads for potential anti-ageing interventions in the next decade
Read more...Cambridge researchers continuously explore novel approaches to improve healthspan
University of Cambridge - 20-Dec-2023
Quest for people to live healthily for as long as possible will inevitably result in longer lives
Read more...Mammals have similar number of DNA mutations whatever their lifespan
BBC - 14-Apr-2022
Shorter lived animals have higher rate of mutations - could explain lower rates of cancer in larger mammals
Read more...