Quanta Magazine · Science

Virus-like ‘Jumping Genes’ Are Key Partners in Evolution

Transposable elements, or transposons, are mobile genetic sequences that can relocate within a genome. Once seen as disruptive, they are now understood as crucial drivers of evolution.

Discovered by Barbara McClintock in corn, transposons can excise and insert elsewhere, challenging the idea of fixed genes.

DNA transposons use 'cut and paste'; retrotransposons copy themselves, making up nearly half of the human genome.

Many retrotransposons relate to retroviruses. These viral remnants, about 8% of the human genome, can transfer between species.

Transposons can create new traits. A transposon insertion in peppered moths is linked to rapid dark wing evolution.

Transposon insertions can generate new proteins and regulate genes, aiding evolution of eyes, immune systems, and placentas.

The host-transposon relationship is coevolutionary. Controlling transposons may have driven epigenetic silencing, a key gene regulation mechanism.

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