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MORE FUNCTIONALITY. "In 2012, a research program called the ENCODE project concluded that around three quarters of the noncoding DNA in the human genome did undergo transcription and that almost 50% of the genome was available to the proteins involved in genetic regulation such as transcription factors." https://lnkd.in/eZHPYqA View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION EXAMPLES. "Hosts infected by viruses found new uses for the genetic material the agents of disease left behind; metabolic enzymes somehow came to refract light rays through the eye’s lens; mammals took advantage of the sutures between the skull bones to help their young pass through the birth canal; and, in the signature example, feathers appeared in fossils before the ancestors of modern birds took to the skies." https://lnkd.in/ehYPdVy View in LinkedIn

EXAPTATION "is a term used in evolutionary biology to describe a trait that has been co-opted for a use other than the one for which natural selection has built it." Darwin first conceived the idea. http://www.livescience.com/39688-exaptation.html View in LinkedIn

"ALU ELEMENTS are a common source of mutation in humans, but such mutations are often confined to non-coding regions where they have little discernible impact on the bearer." https://lnkd.in/ew-tScK View in LinkedIn

EXOGENOME. "Genes that encode products with exogenous targets, which comprise an organism's “exogenome,” typically exhibit high rates of evolution." https://lnkd.in/eNmH993 View in LinkedIn

RETROTRANSPOSONS. "Alu elements make up the largest family of human mobile elements, numbering 1.1 million copies and comprising 11% of the human genome. As a consequence of evolution and genetic drift, Alu elements of various sequence divergence exist throughout the human genome. Alu/Alu recombination has been shown to cause approximately 0.5% of new human genetic diseases and contribute to extensive genomic structural variation." https://lnkd.in/eiy_ZU9 View in LinkedIn

EXOGENES. "The capture and functional assimilation of exogenous viral genes may represent an important force in the evolution of eukaryotes." http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/276/ View in LinkedIn

REPETITIVE ALU GENOMIC SEQUENCES. "An Alu element is a short stretch of DNA originally characterized by the action of the Alu (Arthrobacter luteus) restriction endonuclease. Alu elements of different kinds occur in large numbers in primate genomes. In fact, Alu elements are the most abundant transposable elements in the human genome. Alu insertions have been implicated in several inherited human diseases and in various forms of cancer." https://lnkd.in/ew-tScK View in LinkedIn

GUT MICROBIOME. "You are going to see people manipulating individual bacteria species in someone’s gut with a bacteriophage before too long, because it’s not very hard to do." The gut Microbiome is the target of future therapies for a wide range of disorders. It's all about gut ecology and balance. Watch this space. https://lnkd.in/eaHyvSK View in LinkedIn

PARASITIC GENES. "There are Over 2 Million Copy Machines in your Genes, but only 80-100 still work (they are all LINE-1s). These TE “copy machines” drove evolution for 150 million years, but have largely become non-functional in humans. However, those that are working can still copy themselves (LINE-1s) or copy other transposable elements that were never able to copy themselves (i.e. were parasitic transposable elements). The Alu and SVA transposable elements are the “parasitic TEs”. https://lnkd.in/eqiWug7 View in LinkedIn