Sinai Health researchers discovered that DNA elements known as transposons, which may roam around the genome, influence a vital shift in early human development, rather than our genes. This novel discovery calls into question our previous understanding of these cryptic DNA sequences, offering new insight into their involvement in human development and disease. "People tend to think of transposons as akin to viruses where they hijack our cells for the sole purpose of propagating themselves," says study's senior co-author Dr.
Miguel Ramalho-Santos, Senior Investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI), part of Sinai Health, and Professor at the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. "But here we have discovered that these elements are not mere genomic parasites but are essential for early development," said Dr. Ramalho-Santos, who holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Developmental Epigenetics.
ALSO READ: New research reveals connection between genes and mental disorder How DNA helps in influencing early development: Their study, published in the journal Developmental Cell, indicates that transposable elements are critical to ensure that human embryonic cells progress normally through early development, rather than going back in time. The researchers focussed on the transposable elements known as LINE-1, for long-interspersed nuclear element-1. Unlike our genes, which compose less than 2 per cent of our genome, the LINE-1elements comp.
