Changes in Genetic Networks Caused by DNA Damage

Using a new technology called "differential epistasis maps," an international team of scientists, have documented for the first time how a cellular genetic network completely rewires itself in response to stress by DNA-damaging agents. It shows that we can map how genetic networks in cells are reprogrammed in response to stimuli,  revealing functional relationships that would go undetected using other approaches.

Think of it as the difference in the informational value of a photograph versus a video. In the photo, details and data are restricted to what's contained in a single, captured moment. There's no way to determine exactly what occurred before or after. In a video, whole sequences of events, interactions and relationships can be recorded, identified and studied.

I think this is interesting, it represents a major technological leap forward from simply compiling lists of genes in an organism to actually describing how these genes actively work together.