Author(s)

Jiucheng Ding

Corresponding Author

Jiucheng Ding

ABSTRACT

Constructing more than 50% of the entire genome of most mammals, transposable elements (TEs), also named as the “jumping genes”, were discovered more than half-century ago for their position changing - property within the genome. Overthrew the “genes as still chain of codes” ideology, this finding manifested that the genome is not an immobile set of DNA; deletions, insertions, and translocations of DNA sequences are constantly taking place inside the genome. During the next several decades after transposable elements were discovered, TEs were gradually recognized and found in almost all living creatures. Since that, TEs were no longer considered purely “junk genes”, but an outstanding component in the interpretation of convergence and divergence in evolution. They are also tremendously responsible for a lot of tumorigenesis due to their lability. Researchers have found that transposons can be detrimental to the genome, therefore lead to diseases. Until today, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on this topic, including their fundamental biochemical principles, pathogenesis, and future perspectives. Hence, the major focus of this review is to introduce the basic background and mechanism of TEs with a few examples of tools developed based on the best-investigated Tc1/mariner system, so that the readers may have a brief understanding of these sequences and how they may impact the genome of the biosphere.

KEYWORDS

Transposable elements, jumping genes, suppressor mutator, genome, transposase, retrotransposons, DNA transposons, autonomous, transposition, TSD, Tc1/mariner, carcinogenesis, neurodegeneration, bioengineering tools