Genomic Archeology Digs Up First Mutations in Human Development

Like archeologists digging into the earth, layer by layer, until they reach the earliest artifacts, genomic scientists at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute traced the mutational histories of human adults—all the way back to the two-cell stage of embryonic development. The scientists found that mutational rates very early in development are higher than previously estimated. The scientists also discovered that the earliest mutations can skew subsequent development, such that the doublings of a