The research carried out in our laboratory focuses on the molecular mechanisms and the genetics underlying the pathogenesis of human cancer as well as in modeling cancer in vivo in model systems such as the mouse. Throughout the years we have identified and functionally characterized major novel proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressors (e.g. PTEN, p53, PML and POKEMON). The elucidation of the molecular basis underlying tumor initiation, progression and metastasis has led to the development of novel and effective therapeutic concepts that are currently been utilized and tested in clinical trials. More recently, we have presented a new theory describing how both coding and non-coding mRNA exert their biological functions, with profound implications for human genetics, cell biology and cancer biology.