Tag Archive for 'Retrotransposon'

Ghosh et al. suggest that retroviral endogenization played a prominent role in the emergence of vertebrate myelin. Image credit: Ghosh et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.011.

Study: Ancient Retroviruses Shaped Vertebrate Brains

Feb 19, 2024 by News Staff

Biologists from Altos Labs-Cambridge Institute of Science, the University of Cambridge and elsewhere have found that a retrovirus-derived genetic element...

The human genome contains approximately half a million copies of LINE-1. Image credit: Baldwin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06947-z.

Scientists Reveal Structure of Ancient Virus-Like Genetic Element

Dec 18, 2023 by News Staff

The Long Interspersed Element-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon is an ‘ancient genetic parasite’ that has written around one third of the human genome through...

Petrosino et al. corroborate the hypothesis that LINE elements might be active and functionally important in the central nervous system of highly intelligent organisms such as octopuses. Image credit: Albert Kok / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Same ‘Jumping Genes’ are Active in Octopus and Human Brains

Jun 28, 2022 by News Staff

‘Jumping genes,’ also known as transposons or transposable elements, widely contribute to the evolution of genomes allowing genomic innovations. These...