Parasitic Genes Comprising over Half of Human DNA Being Monitored for Potential Disease Treatments

Biologists are monitoring "parasitic genes" in their quest for DNA parasites and hunt for potential disease treatments, according to a new study in the United States. The scientists claim the said entities are selfish in the sense that they act more as a parasite compared to a normal gene. However, the scientific team believes they could provide knowledge to fight against cancers and aging-related diseases.

The DNA parasites in question are called transposons, which were first discovered over 60 years ago by Barbara McClintock, a geneticist from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. The scientific community in the field of biology were skeptic at first of the discovery. The next decades, will lead to further findings that the elements can in fact jump from one genome into another.

Due to its connotation as the "jumping genes," scientists in the past also found that transposons make up around 50% of the human genome. They are also present in the DNA in almost all living organisms, including both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, in large numbers. With this, biologists in the new study are looking for potential clues on how the parasitic genes could be altered and be beneficial for humans.

Parasitic Genes

In the new paper published in the journal eLife on Tuesday, August 22, biologists from University of California, Irvine (UCI) made a new discovery that the known transposons make proteins with the primary purpose of copying their own DNA and insert its other elements.

This is reportedly unlike other genes that encode proteins that are essential for us to function a biological organism.

According to study leader, Grace Yuh Chwen Lee, assistant professor of ecology & evolutionary biology, they can be called as selfish parasites since they do not do anything for us, as cited by Phys.org.

In terms of cancer and disease treatments, the UCI biologists acknowledged transposons have been linked already to some rare inherited diseases. The team cited the recent discovery of scientists that the parasite genes are activate in aging brains and some cancer cells.

Jumping Genes

In the onset of the 21^st century, scientists were already aware of the discovery and background of transposons, also referred to as transposable elements (TEs). While there is already a working knowledge about these elements, scientists more than a decade ago explored what TEs can do aside from jumping.

In a separate research article published in the journal Nature Education in 2008, scientists mentioned that the impact of the jumping genes depend on where they land. For instance, the 2008 study cited that it was previously found that insertion of transposons into a certain gene has caused hemophilia.

Hemophilia is a hereditary bleeding disorder where blood clotting does not work properly. It can result to spontaneous bleeding, as well as bleeding after an injury or surgery, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Furthermore, the DNA parasites were found in colon cancer cells, confirming the genes also affect somatic cells in mammals and its potential role in causing disease development.