ReviewCellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS2016
A historical and evolutionary perspective on the biological significance of circulating DNA and extracellular vesicles.
Review in Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Quantifying circulating cell-free DNA in humans.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Clinical Utility of ctDNA Analysis in Lung Cancer-A Review.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2025Review
- Liquid Biopsy in Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors-Potential Biomarkers for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- GC-Reach DNA Fragments Reduce the Expression of Survival Genes in MCF7 Breast Carcinoma Cells: TLR9/MyD88/NF-κB Signaling Pathway as a Potential Target for Cancer Therapy.Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine · 2025Article
- The Antarctic Wintering Alters the Properties of Human Plasma Cell-Free DNA.Biochemistry research international · 2025Article
- New Therapeutics for Extracellular Vesicles: Delivering CRISPR for Cancer Treatment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- New Perspectives on the Importance of Cell-Free DNA Biology.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
- Critical Review of the Evolution of Extracellular Vesicles' Knowledge: From 1946 to Today.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- The role of extracellular DNA (exDNA) in cellular processes.Cancer biology & therapy · 2021Review
- Impact of Preanalytical and Analytical Methods on Cell-Free DNA Diagnostics.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Article
- What Is Lost in the Weismann Barrier?Journal of developmental biology · 2020Review
- Cell-free DNA in plasma as an essential immune system regulator.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Changes in circulating cell-free nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2019Article
- Translational Application of Circulating DNA in Oncology: Review of the Last Decades Achievements.Cells · 2019Review
- Increased Transfection of the Easily Oxidizable GC-Rich DNA Fragments into the MCF7 Breast Cancer Cell.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2019Article
- Extracellular DNA Containing (dG)n Motifs Penetrates into MCF7 Breast Cancer Cells, Induces the Adaptive Response, and Can Be Expressed.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2019Article
- Extracellular DNA in natural environments: features, relevance and applications.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2018Review
- New insights into structural features and optimal detection of circulating tumor DNA determined by single-strand DNA analysis.NPJ genomic medicine · 2018Article
- Extracellular Vesicle Biology in the Pathogenesis of Lung Disease.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The discovery of quantitative and qualitative differences of the circulating DNA (cirDNA) between healthy and diseased individuals inclined researchers to investigate these molecules as potential biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis and prognosis of various pathologies. However, except for some prenatal tests, cirDNA analyses have not been readily translated to clinical practice due to a lack of knowledge regarding its composition, function, and biological and evolutionary origins. We believe that, to fully grasp the nature of cirDNA and the extracellular vesicles (EVs) and protein complexes with which it is associated, it is necessary to probe the early and badly neglected work that contributed to the discovery and development of these concepts. Accordingly, this review consists of a schematic summary of the major events that developed and integrated the concepts of heredity, genetic information, cirDNA, EVs, and protein complexes. CirDNA enters target cells and provokes a myriad of gene regulatory effects associated with the messaging functions of various natures, disease progression, somatic genome variation, and transgenerational inheritance. This challenges the traditional views on each of the former topics. All of these discoveries can be traced directly back to the iconic works of Darwin, Lamarck, and their followers. The history of cirDNA that has been revisited here is rich in information that should be considered in clinical practice, when designing new experiments, and should be very useful for generating an empirically up-to-date view of cirDNA and EVs. Furthermore, we hope that it will invite many flights of speculation and stimulate further inquiry into its biological and evolutionary origins.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.