Developmental regulation of transposable elements

转座子，也被称为跳跃基因，是一种可移动的遗传元件，可以复制并将自己插入基因组的新位置。它们占真核基因组的很大比例，例如近50%的人类基因组由转座子序列组成。由于它们的插入有可能扰乱位于基因组中的重要基因的功能，不受控制的转座子活性可能会导致突变，并损害细胞的生存能力。这导致了一种观点，即转座子是有害于细胞生存的寄生成分，转座子被预测为相当大比例的人类疾病的原因。然而，尽管这种观点盛行，但新出现的证据也表明，转座子在基因组复杂性的进化中发挥着重要的有益作用。我们的实验室使用了一种简单但实验上强大的模式生物--常见的果蝇--来了解转座子在胚胎发育过程中所扮演的角色，无论是有益的还是有害的。由于果蝇的特性非常好，而且已经在这种有机体中开发了许多遗传工具，我们可以利用这些技术来阐明转座子的作用。这项工作对于更好地理解转座子与其宿主之间的密切关系具有重要意义。

Transposons, also known as jumping-genes, are mobile genetic elements that can replicate and insert themselves into new locations in the genome. They make up a huge proportion of eukaryotic genomes, for example close to 50% of the human genome is composed of transposon sequences. Since their insertions have the potential to disrupt the functions of important genes located in the genome, uncontrolled transposon activity can be mutagenic and compromise cellular viability. This has led to the view that transposons are parasitic elements that are detrimental to cell survival and transposons are predicted to be the cause of a significant proportion of human diseases. However, despite this prevailing view, emerging evidence also suggests that transposons play important beneficial roles in the evolution of genome complexity. Our laboratory uses a simple but experimentally powerful model organism, the common fruit fly, to understand the roles that transposons play, whether beneficial or detrimental, during embryonic development. Since fruit flies are extremely well characterized and many genetic tools have been developed in this organism, we can harness these technologies to clarify the roles of transposons. This work is important in order to better understand the intimate relationship between transposons and their hosts.