Impact of Genome Instability on Human Health

Maintaining the integrity of our genome is paramount for the sustenance of life. Any aberrations to our genome's structural or functional architecture (commonly known as genome instability) impact a wide range of cellular events critical for maintaining genomic integrity and healthy living. Human cells with genome instability are sensitive to various DNA-damaging agents and manifest as diverse clinical phenotypes affecting multiple systems. Increased oxidative stress or accumulation of toxic metabolic byproducts contribute to DNA damage, which will lead to genome instability and cell death if left unrepaired.

Therefore, it is imperative to undertake complementary and interwoven approaches to study the causes and consequences of genome instability. These include investigations on the causes of DNA damage, the DNA damage response, DNA repair pathway defects, and chromatin structure at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels. Such investigations will improve our understanding of the consequences of genome instability that directly impinges on human health and will provide new avenues for disease treatment and therapy.

This Research Topic welcomes the contribution of Original Research, Review, Mini-review, Hypothesis and Theory, and Perspective articles on genome stability in the context of:
• nuclear dynamics,
• replication and transcription stress,
• chromatin factors,
• inflammation,
• metabolic diseases (e.g., aging, cancer, atherosclerosis, and obesity),
• cell signaling,
• therapeutics and
• organellar genome stability (mitochondria).

Keywords: Genome, Genome Instability, health, Disease, Nuclear Dynamics, Chromatin, Transcription, Replication

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.