Grant: Operating Grant

DNA damage is typically characterized as a negative outcome for the health and survival of all cell types. Moreover, DNA damage is often considered a trigger event in the formation of many forms of cancer. Despite the wealth of information demonstrating the negative consequences of DNA damage, our investigations have shown that DNA damage occurs during the normal maturation of cells and is in fact required for this process. For example, if the occurance of DNA damage is blocked, muscle cells fail to develop. These observations have significant repercussions for our understanding of both basic biology as well as many disease processes that have been consdiered to arise from DNA damaging events. In the current application, we propose to continue our investigations of this novel and exciting area of research