High-Throughput Analysis of Heteroduplex DNA in Mitotic Recombination Products

Mitotic double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by recombination with a homologous donor duplex. This process involves the exchange of single DNA strands between the broken molecule and the repair template, giving rise to regions of heteroduplex DNA (hetDNA). The creation of a defined DSB coupled with the use of a sequence-diverged repair template allows the fine-structure mapping of hetDNA through the sequencing of recombination products. A high-throughput method is described that capitalizes on the single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology developed by PacBio. This method allows simultaneous analysis of the hetDNA contained within hundreds of recombination products

Quitlines and Nicotine Replacement for Smoking Cessation: Do We Need to Change Policy?

In the past 20 years, public health initiatives on smoking cessation have increased substantially. Randomized trials indicate that pharmaceutical cessation aids can increase success by 50% among heavier smokers who seek help, and use of these aids has increased markedly. Quitlines provide a portal through which smokers can seek assistance to quit and are promoted by tobacco control programs. Randomized trials have demonstrated that telephone coaching following a quitline call can also increase quitting, and a combination of quitlines, pharmaceutical aids and physician monitoring can help heavier smokers to quit. While quit attempts have increased, widespread dissemination of these aids has not improved population success rates. Pharmaceutical marketing strategies may have reduced expectations of the difficulty of quitting, reducing success per attempt. Some policies actively discourage unassisted smoking cessation despite the documented high success rates of this approach. There is an urgent need to revisit public policy on smoking cessation