Scientists discover a human brain gene that can jump through DNA

Scientists have discovered a human gene with a remarkable double life: it appears to play an important role in brain cells while still retaining the ability to jump around the genome. Called BC200, the gene evolved millions of years ago from a mobile piece of DNA known as a transposon, but unlike most genes that arose this way, it never lost its mobility. Researchers even found BC200 embedded inside a human poxvirus, suggesting it may have jumped from infected skin cells into the virus.

Scientists discover a human brain gene that can jump through DNA. Researchers at Cornell University made the discovery after finding a human genetic element inside a poxvirus. Their analysis showed that the element, known as BC200, is not only associated with brain function but also behaves like a jumping gene, meaning it can move and insert itself into genomes.

24 in Science reports that BC200 combines traits that scientists had not previously seen together in a human gene. A Brain Gene With a Mobile Past BC200 is expressed mainly in neurons, but its evolutionary history traces back millions of years to a transposon, also known as a ‘jumping gene’, a non-coding genetic element capable of relocating itself and inserting into new places in a genome. Transposons can sometimes be harmful because they are able to insert stretches of DNA into genes and interfere with normal function, potentially contributing to disease.