The use of information theory to analyze genomic changes in neoplasia.
How the cell maintains and uses its heritable information may be a critical factor in neoplasia. For example, neoplastic development is thought to depend upon the interplay between random genomic instability and nonrandom selective forces. Information theory provides a means to analyze these processes. One may quantitate not only the amount and lability of information contained within a segment of genetic code, but also the genotypic heterogeneity and the degree of selection affecting a population of cells. In addition, it is theoretically possible to monitor genetic information as it is processed by cells during replication, transcription, and translation. These parameters could permit a detailed analysis of the evolutionary changes hypothesized to underlie neoplastic development.
Kendal
W S
WS
Department of Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007257:Information Theory; D008433:Mathematics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*