SMaHT Network publishes first benchmarking study of somatic mutation detection

The NIH's Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Network has published its first comprehensive benchmarking study in Cell, showing how new DNA sequencing methods can detect rare somatic mutations acquired as the body grows and ages. Such mutations are linked not only to cancer but also to common noncancerous diseases.

• SMaHT Network is an NIH Common Fund project cataloging somatic mutations
• First comprehensive benchmarking study published in the journal Cell
• Somatic mutations are linked to cancer and common noncancerous diseases
• New sequencing methods detect rare mutations accumulated with age