Roles of DNA mobile elements in primate genomes

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DNA mobile elements, also called transposable elements or transposons, are DNA elements that can move or copy from one location to another in the genomes. They exist in the genomes of most organisms from bacteria to humans, and constitute as much as 85% in some plant and animal genomes. In the human genome, more than 50% of the DNA sequences are comprised of mobile elements, which are represented by more than 5 million individual elements from many families and subfamilies of mobile elements. Although once considered as “Junk DNA”, mobile elements are now known to play important roles in shaping the genome evolution of species and in contributing to specific gene functions through a plethora of molecular mechanisms. However, much is still unknown about the degree of their impact on genome evolution and gene function, as well as their specific mechanisms, especially in a species-specific fashion.