Somatic and germline mutation rates covary linearly across ciliates and mammals, study finds

Somatic and germline mutation rates covary linearly across ciliates and mammals, study finds

In a study published in Current Biology on August 14, Prof. Miao Wei's team at the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Zhang Jianzhi's team at the University of Michigan estimated the somatic mutation rate in a ciliate, and discovered a linear correlation between germline and somatic mutation rates across ciliates and mammals. The findings challenge common opinions on why germline and somatic mutation rat…