![Diagram network rewiring cancer gene fusions](https://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Diagram-network-rewiring-cancer-gene-fusions-150x150.jpg)
Gene fusions, which occur when two previously separate genes become aberrantly fused together, are common cancer-causing mutations. What remain unknown are the molecular functions of most gene fusions, and the proteins that gene fusions can encode (fusion proteins). This lack of functional understanding is a growing problem, since the number of detected gene fusions in cancer continues to rise with advances in modern sequencing technologies.