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Nature 435, 890-891 (16 June 2005) | doi:10.1038/435890a; Published online 15 June 2005

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Genetics:  LINEs in mind

Eric M. Ostertag1 & Haig H. Kazazian, Jr1

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At least half the human genome consists of mobile elements, such as LINEs, some of which can jump around the genome. These elements have been crucial in genome evolution, but they may also contribute to human diversity.

Barbara McClintock won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983 for predicting the existence of mobile elements, pieces of DNA that move from one place in the genome to another. McClintock called them 'controlling elements' and proposed that they could account for developmental differences among individuals of a species — explaining, for example, the differences in maize-kernel colour that she observed1.

  1. Eric M. Ostertag and Haig H. Kazazian Jr are in the Department of Genetics, and Eric M. Ostertag is also in the Department of Pathology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6055, USA.
    Email: kazazian@mail.med.upenn.edu

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