title: Variation in the mutation rate across mammalian genomes.
abstract: It has been known for many years that the mutation rate varies across the genome. However, only with the advent of large genomic data sets is the full extent of this variation becoming apparent. The mutation rate varies over many different scales, from adjacent sites to whole chromosomes, with the strongest variation seen at the smallest scales. Some of these patterns have clear mechanistic bases, but much of the rate variation remains unexplained, and some of it is deeply perplexing. Variation in the mutation rate has important implications in evolutionary biology and underexplored implications for our understanding of hereditary disease and cancer.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK. alan_j_hodgkinson@gmail. com
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hodgkinson
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eyre-Walker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018899:CpG Islands; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics*; D059645:Mutation Rate; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012730:Sex Chromosomes