BRCA1 (breast cancer 1, early onset) is a human gene that belongs to a class of genes known as tumor suppressor genes.

Like many other tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 regulates the cycle of cell division by keeping cells from growing and dividing too rapidly or in an uncontrolled way.

In particular, it inhibits the growth of cells that line the milk ducts in the breast. The protein made by the BRCA1 gene is directly involved in the repair of damaged DNA.

In the nucleus of many types of normal cells, the BRCA1 protein interacts with the protein produced by the RAD51 gene to mend breaks in DNA..

For more information about the topic BRCA1, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

BRCA2 — BRCA2 is a human gene that is involved in the repair of chromosomal damage and belongs to a class of genes known as tumor suppressor genes. Tumor ...  > read more

Tumor suppressor gene — A tumor suppressor gene is a gene that reduces the probability that a cell in a multicellular organism will turn into a tumor cell. A mutation or ...  > read more

Mutation — In biology, mutations are changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA). Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material ...  > read more

DNA repair — DNA repair refers to a collection of processes by which a cell identifies and corrects damage to the DNA molecules that encode its genome. In human ...  > read more

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