The immortal strand hypothesis: segregation and reconstruction.

The immortal strand hypothesis posits that the propensity of stem cell compartments to give rise to cancer in later life can be minimized if stem cells, during the process of self-renewal, retain those DNA strands with the fewest mutations acquired during DNA replication. In this Essay, I explore evidence in support of the hypothesis, the biological implications, and the key questions that remain to be answered experimentally to address the fundamental tenets of the hypothesis.