Scientists have discovered evidence of a hidden war between mobile DNA sequences known as "jumping genes' and other "repressor" genes that try to keep them
Over time, the jumping genes have formed mutations that allow them to escape their repressors when needed.
This has driven the evolution of new repressor genes, causing more jumping gene "resistance," according to Press Association.
Their findings were published in the online edition of Nature journal, and indicates that repressor genes, designed to shut down jumping genes, have been co-opted to regulate the other parts of the genome.
They have driven the evolution of complex networks that orchestrate the activity of our genes.
"We have basically the same 20,000 protein-coding genes as a frog, yet our genome is much more complicated, with more layers of gene regulation. This study helps explain how that came about," said U.S. lead scientist Sofie Salama, from the University of California at Santa Cruz, according to the Press Association.
Jumping genes, also known as retrotransposons, are believed to be remnants of ancient viruses that infected early animals way before humans evolved.
They inserted themselves into different places in the genome as they replicated. They can also disrupt normal genes and cause disease, depending on where they jump to, according to the new study.
Scientists have determined that jumping genes account for at least half of the human genetic code.
"There have been successive waves of retrotransposon activity in primate evolution, when a transposable element changed to become expressed and replicated itself throughout the genome until something turned it off," said Salama.
"We've discovered a major mechanism by which the genome is able to shut down these mobile DNA elements."
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