BRCA1 and ovarian carcinoma: The BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins both have critical roles in HR,2 and mutation carriers in the encoding genes are burdened with an elevated risk of breast and ovarian cancer.3, 4 BRCA1 promotes DNA end resection at double-strand breaks (DSBs), shifting the balance toward repair by HR rather than non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).