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Content Jumping DNA Semen pharming Screening for heart risk Real-time signaling PubSCIENCE starts, PubMedCentral grows When time stands still Shutting down the pump Brain gain JUMPING DNA Mutations aren't transmitted only by inheritance--they can cross species, too, according to recent findings by John F. McDonald, head of the genetics department at the University of Georgia (I.K. Jordan et al., "Evidence for the recent horizontal transfer of long terminal repeat retrotransposon," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96:12621-5, Oct. 26, 1999.). He and coworkers are studying a class of repetitive DNA sequences called long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons, which make up as much as 40 percent of the human genome and are a primary source of spontaneous mutations. Colloquially known as "selfish DNA," these mobile sequences insert into a host genome and use its transcription machinery, apparently sometimes activating nearby cancer genes. The latest work of McDonald's group provides conclusive ...