This schematic illustrates how transposable elements, derived from functional RNAs or retroviruses, shape the human genome and act as regulatory DNA elements. It highlights their essential roles in ...

To understand how organisms are related, researchers use molecular information to construct phylogenetic trees. Most of the time, scientists use thousands of protein-coding sequences to determine ...

All living organisms face the problem of parasites — entities that thrive on others, often at the hosts’ expense. As a result, life is characterized by the presence of defence systems that keep such ...

Heterochromatin, sometimes known as the “dark side of the genome,” is a poorly studied fraction of DNA that makes up about half of our genetic material. For more than 50 years scientists have puzzled ...

Study uncovers how transposable elements in Alzheimer's-affected brains could hold the key to new therapeutic approaches, as scientists uncover the genetic links behind these molecular disruptions.

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have revealed previously unappreciated roles for the retrotransposon LINE ...

Around 45 percent of human DNA is made up of transposable elements, or TEs—genetic leftovers from now-extinct viruses that scientists once believed to be “junk DNA.” But that view is changing, and a ...

Transposable elements are stretches of DNA that can move around the genome. Many of these DNA sequences originate from long ago, when viruses inserted their genetic material into our ancestors' ...