When a chromosome is lost: How do human cells react to monosomy?

Human cells are usually diploid—they contain two sets of chromosome. Cells in which one chromosome is missing from the duplicated chromosome set are generally not viable. For a long time, the mechanisms responsible for the loss of viability were unknown. This is where researchers at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (TUK) came in. In collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg and the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences to investigate the effects of the reduced number of chromosomes in human cells. In the process, they have succeeded for the first time in implementing an experimental approach with viable monosomic cells. The journal Nature Communications has published the basic findings.