Multiplex-fluorescence in situ hybridization (M-FISH), which allows for the simultaneous visualization of all human chromosomes of a metaphase in a single hybridization step, was used to determine how the loss of a telomere on one chromosome can influence the stability of the genome as a whole. The results show that chromosomes that have lost a telomere can acquire a new telomere by a variety of different mechanisms that differ in their consequences, resulting in nonreciprocal translocations, large deletions and duplications, and chromosome loss, all of which are commonly associated with human cancer. Thus, telomere loss is likely to be an important mechanism for chromosome instability in cancer. For details, see the article by Sabatier et al. on page 139.

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