No Two Alike

For more than a century, scientists have been trying to understand what drives cancer. Today, we know that it’s a disease underpinned by genetic changes (mutations) that cause cells to grow out of control, eventually forming a tumour. Highly sensitive DNA sequencing technology means that we can now look in depth at the mutations in ever smaller pieces from individual tumours – and the more we discover, the more complicated it gets. These images are visual representations of detailed DNA sequencing of small pieces of individual bowel tumours, with groups of cells (clones) carrying particular patterns of mutations highlighted in different colours. The results show that no two cancers are the same, and that there’s huge variation in how these clones grow and the mutations within them. This means that each patient needs a personalised approach to treatment, rather than one-size-fits-all therapy, in order to get the best outcome.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image adapted from work by Ha X. Dang and colleagues
• The Alvin J. Siteman Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
• Published in Science Advances, June 2020