Our special focus is on constitutional and acquired chromosomal and genomic alterations and their impact on disease susceptibility. Especially, the group is interested in somatic genome variability. Some recent publications suggested that genomes may vary considerably from one cell to another but to date detailed data are lacking. Therefore, the consequences of such genomic cell-to-cell variability on gene function and metabolic pathways have not been studied in detail yet. To this end M. Speicher’s group develops sophisticated technologies for the high-resolution analysis of the genome and the transcriptome of single or a few cells, enabling to study genomic instability occurring in both malignant diseases and aging and their consequences with unprecedented resolution. Recent data in the science of aging suggest that longevity, in addition to environmental factors, is to a large extent influenced by genetic factors. Such genetic factors can be constitutional, i.e. present in the genome of each cell, or acquired and therefore limited to certain fractions of cells as mosaicism. During aging somatic mosaicism may increase and reduce the function of organs. We can address such questions employing our genome-wide scans and sophisticated technologies for single cell/small cell number analyses. Together with functional studies these genome-wide analyses will clarify the impact of genetic changes on metabolic processes during aging and in pre-cancerous lesions.

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