When cells reproduce, the internal mechanisms that copy DNA get it right nearly every time. Rice University bioscientists have uncovered a tiny detail that helps understand how the process could go wrong.

Their study of enzymes revealed the presence of a central metal ion critical to DNA replication also appears to be implicated in misincorporation, the faulty ordering of nucleotides on new strands.

The observation reported in Nature Communications could help find treatments for genetic mutations and the diseases they cause, including cancer.