ISAMM

                               INTRODUCTION TO TRANSPOSONS                                                 (Jumping Genes)  Author: Waseem Ashfaq             Transposons are pieces of DNA that can “jump” into novel positions in the genome. There are quite a few distinct sorts of transposon which differ from every other in numerous ways. They have been exploited really extensively in molecular biology investigation. They can insert themselves into DNA without having requiring any comparable sequence to be present in themselves and their “target”. This makes them effective mutagens, since their insertion into a gene will usually avoid the gene from producing a functional protein. As mutagens, their effect is not often entirely random, as some do have preferences for particular sequences or kinds of chromatin, and others will transpose preferentially to adjacent regions rather than randomly throughout the genome. Typically, a minimum of two things … Read entire article »