Objective Clonally transmissible cancers are somatic cell lineages that are transmitted between individuals via the transfer of living cancer cells. There are only three known types of naturally occurring clonally transmissible cancers, one of which is a leukemia-like cancer found in marine bivalves, called hemic neoplasia (HN).HN in cockles Cerastoderma edule offers an unique opportunity, over the other naturally occurring transmissible cancers, for the discovery of the genetic drivers of cancer transmissibility because: (1) cockle HN has a polyphyletic origin, which allows the identification of recurrently mutated genes among different unrelated cockle HN lineages; (2) HN provides a reliable in vitro and in vivo model that could be used for driver gene discovery and validation by means of genetic engineering methods; (3) cockle HN represents a nearly endless source of biological resources for study and experimentation on the origins and development of natural clonally transmissible cancers, due to the ubiquity of cockles throughout the Western Atlantic coast of Europe and the high prevalence of HN (>20%).Using HN in cockles as a model for clonally transmissible cancers, this project intends to identify the genomic alterations and mutational processes that drive transmissible cancers to depart from their hosts and evolve as parasitic clonal lineages in the marine environment, for illuminating universal processes that make a cancer contagious, and to identify new/unexpected biological insights into the general mechanisms of cancer metastasis.We will first characterize the clonal structure of cockle transmissible cancers by phylogenetic approaches. Then, we will use NGS analysis to catalogue the somatic alterations that characterize different HN clonal lineages, figure out the mutational processes that operate in marine transmissible cancers, and identify the putative cancer genes that drive cancer transmissibility, which will be finally validated by genome editing approach Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological morphologycomparative morphologymedical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologygenetic engineeringgene therapynatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutationmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes Keywords cancer genomics next-generation sequencing Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2016-STG - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2016-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Host institution UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA Net EU contribution € 989 463,80 Address COLEXIO DE SAN XEROME PRAZA DO OBRADOIRO S/N 15782 Santiago De Compostela Spain See on map Region Noroeste Galicia A Coruña Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 989 463,80 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA Spain Net EU contribution € 989 463,80 Address COLEXIO DE SAN XEROME PRAZA DO OBRADOIRO S/N 15782 Santiago De Compostela See on map Region Noroeste Galicia A Coruña Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 989 463,80 UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO Spain Net EU contribution € 503 036,20 Address LG CAMPUS LAGOAS MARCOSENDE 36310 Vigo Pontevedra See on map Region Noroeste Galicia Pontevedra Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 503 036,20