Science

DNA sequencing of a family from children to great-grandparents reveals more mutations than previously seen

May 07, 2025 | 08:00pm

How quickly do humans mutate? Four generations help answer the question

The DNA of each child that is born contains entirely new mutations, not found in either of their parents. To find out how much that DNA changes, and how fast the human genome mutates, researchers compared the genomes from four generations of a single family. They found mutation hotspots in our chromosomes and discovered more and bigger changes than we previously knew about.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01473-6

This story originally appeared on: Nature - Author:Shamini Bundell

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