Precision medicine review: rare driver mutations and their biophysical classification.

ABSTRACT: How can biophysical principles help precision medicine identify rare driver mutations? A major tenet of pragmatic approaches to precision oncology and pharmacology is that driver mutations are very frequent. However, frequency is a statistical attribute, not a mechanistic one. Rare mutations can also act through the same mechanism, and as we discuss below, "latent driver" mutations may also follow the same route, with "helper" mutations. Here, we review how biophysics provides mechanistic guidelines that extend precision medicine. We outline principles and strategies, especially focusing on mutations that drive cancer. Biophysics has contributed profoundly to deciphering biological processes. However, driven by data science, precision medicine has skirted some of its major tenets. Data sci

SUBMITTER: Nussinov R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6381362 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature