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The emergence of genetic diseases and evolutionary processes are associated with the flow of genetic information from one generation to another, in which genetic information carried by gametes can be changed by the appearance of de novo germline mutations. The rate of germline mutations determines the rate of evolution and the incidence of heritable disorders. Despite the great theoretical and practical importance, the problem of establishing mutation rates and their dependence on different factors remains scarcely studied, and the mutation rate values obtained by different methods vary considerably. The review discusses different ways of estimating the rate of these mutations and makes an attempt to explain the reasons for discrepancies in the data obtained. Three levels of the mutation formation are considered: (1) mutations that are formed during the development of a given individual during gametogenesis (basic mutations); (2) mutations transmitted to offspring and determining differences in the genomes of consecutive generations (parents and offspring), which include basic mutations and possible changes resulting from complex processes of sperm transfer to oocyte, fertilization, and subsequent events that lead to only one viable offspring of hundreds of millions spermatozoa and oocytes; (3) mutations which are formed at level 2, fixed in evolution, and determine evolutionary processes and differences between genomes, in particular, of hominoids, hominids, and hominins.

An artificial double tandem tumor-specific promoter based on survivin and human telomerase reverse transcriptase gene promoters was constructed. Studies in in vitro and ex vivo therapeutic systems showed that the designed promoter exhibits a high activity in tumor cells, which is comparable to the activity of the CMV constitutive promoter.

The review discusses the causes of multiple failures in cancer treatment, which might primarily result from the excessive variability of cancer genomes. They are capable of changing their spatial and temporal architecture during tumor development. The key reasons of irreproducibility of biomedical data and the presumable means for improvement of therapeutic results aiming at targeting the most stable tumor traits are suggested.

The content of the J peptide of secretory polymeric immunoglobulins can significantly change during various pathologies, reflecting the state of the adaptive immune system. In this study, the content of J peptide was determined in various tissues of healthy people. These results can be used as basic data for investigations of the changes in the content of J peptide during different pathologies.

Secreted polymeric immunoglobulins, IgA dimers and IgM pentamers, are unique in having not only the L and H chains but also the J chain, which is responsible for oligomerization. These antibodies belong to the local adaptive immune system, located in the mucosas of the respiratory and digestive systems and acting first to protect the body from infectious agents. Polymeric immunoglobulins are produced by highly specific B cells and are actively transported to the mucosa surface through epithelial cells. Hence, their production and, accordingly, the J-chain content are associated with the transporting function of the epithelium and depend on its state, which dramatically changes upon malignant transformation. The content of the J chain and the transcription level of its gene were studied in normal and tumor cells at various stages of squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma of the lungs by RT-PCR and immunoblotting.