Using data deriving from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) from 2700 blood samples used as germ-line controls across 11 different cancer types, Xie et al. found that mutations in DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, JAK2, SF3B1, PPM1D and TP53 were enriched with a linear relationship with age [16]. Here, DNMT3A is linked to cancer.