Quanta Magazine explores how jumping genes shaped human evolution
Nearly half the human genome consists of mobile DNA sequences once dismissed as junk but now understood as partners in evolutionary adaptation.
What to know
- Nearly half of the human genome consists of transposons—mobile DNA sequences that can move and copy themselves—long dismissed as junk but now understood as key features of genetic evolution.
- Barbara McClintock's 1944 discovery of these "jumping genes" in corn was initially met with skepticism but earned her the Nobel Prize in 1983, fundamentally changing how scientists view genome structure.
- Modern research reveals transposons drive evolutionary adaptations across species, from moth patterns to mammalian reproduction, functioning as coevolutionary partners rather than parasites.
“The relationship between host genome and transposon is best understood as a deep coevolutionary entanglement.”
Quanta Magazine · Quanta Magazine ↗
Barbara McClintock Geneticist, discoverer of transposonsJake Buehler Science journalist, Quanta Magazine
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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“Nearly half of your genome is a wild drama: mobile, repetitive, disruptive, even viral.”
— Quanta Magazine -
3 outlets first by Mastodon, 2d ago · also Quanta Magazine, Quanta · read ↗
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background
McClintock awarded Nobel Prize for transposon discovery — Three decades after her initial discovery, McClintock received the Nobel Prize for demonstrating that genes are not fixed in place, validating her groundbreaking work on transposons.
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background
Barbara McClintock discovers mobile genetic elements in corn — While studying color variation in corn kernels at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, McClintock identified genetic sequences that could move between chromosomal locations, challenging the prevailing view that genes were fixed in place.