Skoltech researcher Marat Kazanov has co-authored a paper “Acute myeloid leukemia with t(X;6)9p11;q23);MYB-GATA1 and female sex: GATA1 insufficiency may be insufficient for pathogenesis” that has been published in Cancer Genetics journal. The study is focused on disease known as pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Pediatric AML is genetically heterogenous. t(X;6)(p11;q23) is a rare but recurrent chromosomal translocation in infant AML thought to be associated with male sex and basophilic differentiation. The scientists report molecular characterization of AML with t(X;6)(p11;q23);MYB-GATA1 in two female infants and demonstrate preserved GATA1 expression in the sample tested. The data obtained also demonstrate the power and efficiency of RNA sequencing for subclassification of leukemia on a clinically relevant timeline. Full text of the paper is available here.