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CARCINOGENESIS

Are carcinogens direct mutagens?

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In a classical view of carcinogenesis, carcinogens directly cause mutations. In this issue, Riva et al. explore the effects of 20 known or suspected human carcinogens and find discernible mutational signatures for only three of them.

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Fig. 1: In the classical model of carcinogenesis, a chemical directly interacts with DNA and leads to mutational changes.

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Correspondence to Nuria Lopez-Bigas.

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Lopez-Bigas, N., Gonzalez-Perez, A. Are carcinogens direct mutagens?. Nat Genet 52, 1137–1138 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00730-w

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