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    "headline": "The Same DNA Damage Took Different Roads",
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    "dek": "Controlled mouse experiments found that inherited genetic background redirected how tumors began and evolved after the same initiating damage.",
    "summary": "Controlled mouse experiments found that inherited genetic background redirected how tumors began and evolved after the same initiating damage.",
    "body_text": "A University of Cambridge-led team exposed mice with different inherited genetic backgrounds to the same cancer-initiating DNA damage and tracked the tumors that followed. The Nature study found that germline variation changed both cancer risk and the evolutionary route tumors took, providing direct experimental evidence that acquired mutations do not act on a blank genetic canvas. The work was done in mice and does not yet predict an individual person's cancer trajectory; the generic glassware image is illustrative.",
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      "The Nature study found that germline variation changed both cancer risk and the evolutionary route tumors took, providing direct experimental evidence that acquired mutations do not act on a blank genetic canvas.",
      "The work was done in mice and does not yet predict an individual person's cancer trajectory; the generic glassware image is illustrative."
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        "text": "Controlled mouse experiments found that inherited genetic background redirected how tumors began and evolved after the same initiating damage.",
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    "tags": [
      "cancer",
      "genetics",
      "tumor evolution",
      "mouse model"
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      "source_id": "source-2026-07-27-003",
      "title": "University of Cambridge via ScienceDaily: Genetic background and cancer evolution",
      "publisher": "University of Cambridge via ScienceDaily",
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    "title": "The Same DNA Damage Took Different Roads",
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