Mar
22
2010
A beautiful example of how a “negative” result in science can still be enormously valuable.
What can SNPs tell us about breast cancer risk? Not much, researchers say
March 17, 2010 | 4:29 pm
There are certainly many genetic mutations that increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. The most famous examples are variations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (whose names are short for BReast CAncer).
More common are the single-letter DNA changes called single nucleotide polymorphisms– or SNPs for short. Researchers have identified many SNPs that appear to be associated with breast cancer because they are more common in women who have the disease.
