The following is an excerpt.
In a surprising finding that helps explain fundamental behaviors of normal and diseased cells, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered a set of powerful gene regulators dubbed “super-enhancers” that control cell state and identity. Healthy cells employ these super-enhancers to control genes responsible for cellular functions and developmental transitions — such as that from embryonic stem cell to nerve cell — but cancer cells are able to assemble their own insidious super-enhancers to overproduce harmful oncogenes that lead to aggressive tumors.
Read the full press release here: Genetic Master Controls Expose Cancers’ Achilles’ Heel
