OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Plaintiffs firms are battling a new defense being employed in asbestos litigation – that is, a certain genetic mutation is believed to increase a person’s risk of developing mesothelioma when exposed to asbestos.

The genetic mutation is called BAP1, and University of Hawaii researcher Dr. Michele Carbone believes that not only is it capable of increasing the risk of developing mesothelioma and other forms of cancers related to asbestos exposure, but also that it can directly cause mesothelioma.