David Kent, Professor and Deputy Head of Research at the University of York, took a pioneering interdisciplinary approach to address a major limitation in stem cell biology, that retrospective assays are needed to establish stem cell function.
His work using acquired mutations as endogenous barcodes for tracking stem cells has revolutionised the field. Tracking the clonal evolution of cancer driver mutations during gene therapy trials for sickle cell disease is a major clinical challenge. Professor Kent’s barcoding approach outperforms substantially current clinical panels for tracking potentially dangerous stem cell clones. He now leads a follow-up project to assess driver mutation frequency and cancer risk in cohorts from Tanzania, Uganda, USA and UK.