Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) have discovered hundreds of potential new cancer driver genes expanding the list of possible therapeutic targets to monitor and tackle the disease. The researchers used an algorithm, called “spotter”, to find no classic 813 oncogenes which help cancer cells proliferate through alterations in an often-overlooked molecular mechanism known as splicing (non-mutational mechanisms). Cells use splicing to cut out unnecessary parts of the draft (introns) and stick together the important bits of information (exons), and that mechanism commonly hijacked by cancer. Changes in splicing can alter how a gene—and the protein it produces—responds to therapeutic molecules, advancing precision oncology. Like with mutations, splicing can be targeted by drugs to control progression of the disease.