DNA damage that causes replication forks to stall can be bypassed via translesion synthesis (TLS). New work has identified a bifunctional human primase and TLS polymerase, PrimPol, that reinitiates DNA synthesis beyond the damage site by virtue of its unique primase activity, revealing a novel pathway of DNA-damage tolerance.
- Silvana Mourón
- Sara Rodriguez-Acebes
- Juan Méndez