Cell-free DNA: An opportunity to revolutionize advance disease detection

The vast majority of the DNA in a genome is neatly enclosed inside cells in the human body with the help from particular proteins, safeguarding it from degradation. However, under a number of conditions, certain DNA fragments are ’released’ from their containers and found outside the cell, in body fluids. These tiny nucleic acid fragments are commonly referred to as cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Mandel and Metais made the initial discovery of cfDNA in 1948, then the scientists got aware of such degraded nucleic acid fragments in bodily fluids1. However, only in the last two decades or so, since genome sequencing tools became more widely available, have they truly found out what to do with the information they have gathered.