title: Gene conversion: mechanisms, evolution and human disease.
abstract: Gene conversion, one of the two mechanisms of homologous recombination, involves the unidirectional transfer of genetic material from a 'donor' sequence to a highly homologous 'acceptor'. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie gene conversion, its formative role in human genome evolution and its implications for human inherited disease. Here we assess current thinking about how gene conversion occurs, explore the key part it has played in fashioning extant human genes, and carry out a meta-analysis of gene-conversion events that are known to have caused human genetic disease.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U613, 29220 Brest, France. Jian-Min.Chen@univ-brest.fr
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chuzhanova
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Férec
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Patrinos
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005785:Gene Conversion / Q000502:physiology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation