Translational and Regenerative Medicine

The guardians of the human genome that work to prevent potentially disease-causing gene expression might not be as effective at their jobs as previously thought, according to new University of Arizona research.

Human chromosomes are made up of DNA, about half of which includes ancient remnants of a type of virus called transposons. Also known as "jumping genes," transposons have the potential to attack other parts of the genome and cause mutations and damage if they’re ever free to be expressed.

The University of Arizona is one of the world's elite research institutions, according to Times Higher Education rankings released Wednesday.