The shock of being united and symphiliosis

A common view is that an accidental increase in ploidy contributes to the evolution of neoplastic cells primarily by decreasing the fidelity of mitosis with extra chromosomes and centrosomes. This view implies that how neoplastic cells become polyploid is irrelevant, as it has been widely assumed. If this assumption is correct, then the oncogenic contribution of the pathways to polyploidy and thus their potential as targets for cancer prevention is determined by their incidence in the body. A lesson from plant evolution, in which an accidental increase in ploidy has a prevalent role, suggests that this assumption needs to be reconsidered.