The genome’s safety net: buffering mutations with HSP90 and partners

A Nature feature explains how HSP90 and related heat‑shock proteins buffer harmful mutations, masking their effects and allowing genetic variation to persist. This buffering can influence disease risk (notably BRCA1‑related cancers), responses to therapy, and even evolution. New work maps additional buffering genes beyond HSP90, while environmental stress such as heat can exhaust buffering, with implications for drug development that target these master proteins.