There-by hangs a tail...

[Nik_SpeakerToCats]

Great Jumping Genes !! Or, why us hominids do not (usually) have tails...

https://www.sci.news/genetics/line-1-re ... 12539.html
Scientists Reveal Structure of Ancient Virus-Like Genetic Element
Dec 18, 2023
quote:
The Long Interspersed Element-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon is an ‘ancient genetic parasite’ that has written around one third of the human genome through a ‘copy-and-paste’ mechanism and serves as an active source of genetic diversity and human disease.
The LINE-1 retrotransposon, one of the most common elements in human DNA, is a major part of the ‘dark genome,’ the poorly understood genetic material that doesn’t provide blueprints for any of the proteins that human bodies use.
...
Usually dormant in healthy cells, in disease, LINE-1 can break free and make proteins, including one called the LINE-1 ORF2 protein (LINE-1 ORF2p) that attempts to add new mutation-causing copies of LINE-1 back into our DNA.
...
“These molecules have an impact on us that goes way beyond diseases,” said Rutgers University’s Professor Francesc Xavier Ruiz.
“For example, researchers have found out that insertion of these ‘junk’ DNAs in the middle of the genes coding for the tail in hominids may explain why we no longer have tails.”
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