Genome instability studies could change treatment for cancer and
other diseases  UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Counterintuitive as it
may seem, genetic mutation is key to our evolution and survival.
As our cells grow, reproduce, and die, DNA is repeatedly
replicated and repaired, and bits and pieces of its sequences
are perpetually changed, misplaced, and swapped in the process,
thus producing mutations. These mutations create genetic
variation, which results in different observable traits or
phenotypes -- providing material for the process of natural
selection to act upon and driving the evolution of fitter
populations.  But mutations aren't always beneficial for the
individual; in some cases, they can be harmful, leading to
inherited or somatic genetic diseases. A growing number of
neurodegenerative and neuromuscular inherited diseases are being
linked to mutations that arise from instability in one
particular group of DNA sequences called microsatellites. And
geneticists have also observed microsatellite instab