Why jumping genes don’t send us into meltdown

Scientists have explained, for the first time, how transposition is regulated in the bodies of humans and other living organisms. This is an ingenious mechanism which prevents transposons from increasing and killing us. The process is very simple, but it explains so much. Karen Lipkow A team of researchers has explained why the so-called "jumping genes" found in most living organisms don't ultimately kill off their hosts, putting an end to a long-standing scientific mystery. The study reveals for the first time how the movement and duplication of segments of DNA known as transposons is regulated. This prevents a genomic meltdown, and instead enables transposons to live in harmony with their hosts - including humans. Transposons were discovered in the 1940s by Barbara McClintock, who was rewarded in 1983 with the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.