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Snapshots of genetic copy-and-paste machinery in action

LINE-1 DNA elements self-duplicate, inserting the copy into new regions of the genome — a key process in chromosome evolution. Structures of the machinery that performs this process in humans are now reported.
  1. Gael Cristofari

    1. Gael Cristofari is at the University Cote d’Azur, Inserm, CNRS, Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging of Nice (IRCAN), Nice 06107, France.

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DNA sequences known as LINE-1 (L1) elements replicate themselves and spread throughout mammalian genomes using a biological ‘copy and paste’ mechanism. Writing in Nature, Thawani et al.1 and Baldwin et al.2 report X-ray and cryoelectron-microscopy structures of the remarkable complex that enables L1 to propagate itself — providing insight into how and where this DNA element is duplicated.

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Nature 626, 40-42 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00112-w

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Competing Interests

G.C. is an unpaid associate editor of the journal Mobile DNA (Springer Nature).

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