title: Which transposable elements are active in the human genome?
abstract: Although a large proportion (44%) of the human genome is occupied by transposons and transposon-like repetitive elements, only a small proportion (<0.05%) of these elements remain active today. Recent evidence indicates that approximately 35-40 subfamilies of Alu, L1 and SVA elements (and possibly HERV-K elements) remain actively mobile in the human genome. These active transposons are of great interest because they continue to produce genetic diversity in human populations and also cause human diseases by integrating into genes. In this review, we examine these active human transposons and explore mechanistic factors that influence their mobilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: E Andrew
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Iskow
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Devine
mesh_terms: D020029:Base Pairing; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements