'Junk' DNA controls how our genes turn on and off
Turns out, the parts of our DNA once brushed off as "junk" are actually doing some pretty important work.
A new study found that nearly half of our DNA is made up of transposable elements (TEs), which act like genetic switches to help control how our genes turn on and off—without changing the actual code.
Researchers zoomed in on a TE family called MER11, discovering it plays a big role in managing gene activity.
MER11 helps explain what makes different species unique
MER11, which originally came from an ancient virus, is part of the endogenous retroviruses that make up at least 8% of our genome and has four subfamilies.
The youngest one, MER11_G4, works closely with proteins that control gene expression and might even help explain what makes different species unique.
As lead author Xun Chen put it, these findings show that "junk" DNA plays a crucial role in how genomes evolve and diversify.