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Human 'Jumping Gene' Found in Poxvirus
Confirmed
In Short: Scientists discovered a human gene in a poxvirus that is both mobile and essential for brain function.
Scientists have discovered a human genetic element, known as BC200, in a poxvirus, marking the first time a gene has been observed as both mobile and necessary for bodily functions.
BC200 was found in the molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a virus that causes warts in humans. This discovery was made while Cheng Sun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington, was investigating human transposons in viral genomes.
BC200, first identified in the late 1980s, is unique to humans and related primates and is primarily expressed in neurons. It was initially discovered as an abundant non-coding RNA in human neurons.
The gene's dual nature as a transposable element and a functional gene is unprecedented. Transposons, or 'jumping genes,' are typically non-coding genetic elements known for their ability to move and insert themselves into genomes.
BC200's presence in MCV suggests that the virus may be using the gene for its own purposes, potentially manipulating human host cells. Researchers are now exploring this possibility.
The gene's role in disease, particularly in breast and other types of tumors where it is abnormally expressed, is also under investigation. Scientists are interested in whether BC200 is jumping in cancer cells and causing mutations.
This discovery adds to the understanding of how genetic material can move between species and the potential implications for human health.
What this adds
The exact mechanism by which BC200 moved from human cells into the poxvirus remains unclear.
The potential for BC200 to cause inheritable mutations in humans is still being studied.
What's confirmed
- Scientists have discovered a human genetic element, known as BC200, in a poxvirus, marking the first time a gene has been observed as both mobile and necessary for bodily functions.
- BC200 was found in the molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a virus that causes warts in humans. This discovery was made while Cheng Sun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Arlington, was investigating human transposons in viral genomes.
- BC200, first identified in the late 1980s, is unique to humans and related primates and is primarily expressed in neurons. It was initially discovered as an abundant non-coding RNA in human neurons.
- The gene's dual nature as a transposable element and a functional gene is unprecedented. Transposons, or 'jumping genes,' are typically non-coding genetic elements known for their ability to move and insert themselves into genomes.
- BC200's presence in MCV suggests that the virus may be using the gene for its own purposes, potentially manipulating human host cells. Researchers are now exploring this possibility.
- The gene's role in disease, particularly in breast and other types of tumors where it is abnormally expressed, is also under investigation. Scientists are interested in whether BC200 is jumping in cancer cells and causing mutations.
- This discovery adds to the understanding of how genetic material can move between species and the potential implications for human health.
What's still developing
- Then in 2007, a group from Japan discovered a transposable element embedded in a rodent poxvirus, though the transposon originated in a snake, raising the likelihood that the virus also infected reptiles, though it had never been studied.
- It is also found in low levels in germ cells – sperm and eggs – making it potentially capable of generating inheritable insertions in other areas of the genome.
- While transposons account for half of human DNA, most of them are inactive, with a very small number of them remaining mobile and able to replicate within genomes.
- The finding, reported by Cornell, concerns BC200, a gene that originated from a so-called jumping gene but appears to have retained the ability to move.
- BC200 is unusual because it appears to be both mobile and used by human cells, according to the Cornell team.
- BC200 is found in humans and related primates and is expressed most strongly in neurons, though its exact function in the body remains poorly understood.
- Earlier research found an insect transposon entering a virus in laboratory cell cultures and a vertebrate transposon embedded in a rodent poxvirus in the wild.
- The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades.
- Cornell researchers say a human gene associated with brain cells has turned up inside a poxvirus, offering a rare example of genetic material moving from a person into a virus.