Reverse Transcriptase Mechanism of Somatic Hypermutation: 60 Years of Clonal Selection Theory

Abstract

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The evidence for the reverse transcriptase mechanism of somatic hypermutation is substantial and multifactorial. In this 60th anniversary year of the publication of Sir MacFarlane Burnet’s Clonal Selection Theory, the evidence is briefly reviewed and updated.

Keywords

• somatic hypermutation
• strand-biased mutations
• DNA polymerase-η
• A-to-I RNA and DNA editing
• RNA exosome
• AID-deaminase