Looking for Timebombs in the Genome — Retrotransposons & Epialleles

Buried in the mammal genome are more than a million virus-like stretches of DNA that epigenetic mechanisms work constantly to suppress — but once in a while, they slip up. If that happens nearby an important gene, it could mean physical changes, or even disease. And with bioinformatics and lab work, Muhammad Ekram and colleagues at Louisiana State University are trying to find out where these timebombs might be. They’ve found 143 candidates so far. They’re working with mice in Joomyeong Kim’s LSU lab, but the virus-like DNA sequences — retrotransposons — make up a large chunk of the genomes of most mammals. In mice, they’re about 40 percent of the genome, and in humans they account for more than … Continue reading →