What is jumping DNA?
Nearly half of the human genome is composed of transposable elements or jumping DNA. First recognized in the 1940s by Dr. Barbara McClintock in studies of peculiar inheritance patterns found in the colors of Indian corn, jumping DNA refers to the idea that some stretches of DNA are unstable and “transposable,” i.e., they can move aroundon and between chromosomes. This theory was confirmed in the 1980s when scientists observed jumping DNA in other genomes. Now scientists believe transposons may be linked to some genetic disorders such as hemophilia, leukemia, and breast cancer. They also believe that transposons may have played critical roles in human evolution. McClintock received a Nobel prize in 1983 for her discoverymaking her one of only two women ever to receive an unshared Nobel prize in science. The other was Marie Curie.
