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Gene regulation

Selfish elements make a mark

Nature volume 429, pages 253–254 (2004)Cite this article

Transposons qualify as ‘selfish’ DNA elements, adding new copies of themselves into our genomes without regard for the consequences. This wilful habit may, however, help in normal gene regulation.

People differ in their genetic make-up, not only through changes in single DNA base pairs but also by the insertion of whole blocks of DNA1,2,3. Human cells contain one type of active mobile element — the L1 retrotransposon — that is responsible for these insertions. Transposons are defined as DNA sequences that can form extra copies of themselves at new locations in an organism's genome; today, L1 and related retrotransposons account for a staggering 17% of the human genome sequence. Mercifully, however, L1 elements ‘transpose’ only infrequently, minimizing damage to our chromosomes. The forces that keep L1 at bay have long been a mystery, but two papers by Boeke and colleagues in this issue4,5, together with an earlier study6, unveil a major control mechanism. In the first paper4, the authors present this discovery and discuss its implications for understanding genomic evolution. Their second paper5 describes how they capitalized on these findings to make a modified L1 element that is more than 200 times as active as normal.

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Figure 1: Retrotransposition of the L1 element.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3610 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, 19104-6076, Pennsylvania, USA

    Frederic Bushman

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  1. Frederic Bushman
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Bushman, F. Selfish elements make a mark. Nature 429, 253–254 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429253b

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/429253b

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