Maps of chromosomal regions crucial for cell division reveal high diversity

05 August 2026

Centromeres are regions of chromosomes that are required for cell division. Complete sequence characterization of centromeres from a diverse group of 65 individuals reveals dynamic and rapid patterns of mutational change, providing information about centromere evolution and function.

This is a summary of: Gao, S. et al. A global view of human centromere variation and evolution. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10841-9 (2026).

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-02327-5‘Expert opinion’ and the figure are published under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

ReferencesLucas, J. K. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.21.739710 (2026).Porubsky, D. et al. Nature 643, 427–436 (2025).Article