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<p><strong>Transposons</strong> are sequences of DNA that can move around to different positions within the genome of a single <font color="#810081">cell</font>, a process called <strong>transposition</strong>. In the process, they can cause mutations and change the amount of DNA in the genome. Transposons were also once called "jumping genes", and are examples of mobile genetic elements. Discovered by Barbara McClintock early in her career<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0">[1]</sup>, the discovery earned her a Nobel prize in 1983. There are a variety of mobile genetic elements, and they can be grouped based on their mechanism of transposition. Class I mobile genetic elements, or retrotransposons, move in the genome by being transcribed to RNA and then back to DNA by reverse transcriptase, while class II mobile genetic elements move directly from one position to another within the genome using a transposase to "cut and paste" them within the genome. Transposons are very useful to researchers as a means to alter DNA inside of a living organism. Transposons make up a large fraction of genome sizes which is evident through the C-values of eukaryotic species.</p>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">Types of transposons</span></h2>
<h2><span class="mw-headline">External links</span></h2>
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<li><a class="external text" title="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Transposons.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/T/Transposons.html" rel="nofollow">Kimball's Biology Pages: Transposons</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025565.500&feedId=online-news_rss20" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19025565.500&feedId=online-news_rss20" rel="nofollow">A possible connection between aberrant reinsertions and lymphoma</a> - New Scientist </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/gene_transfer/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/gene_transfer/" rel="nofollow">Precision genetic engineering</a> Inserting new genes into plant cells - new gene transfer methods </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.wikiposon.org" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.wikiposon.org/" rel="nofollow">A wiki specially dedicated to transposable elements and their classification</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.girinst.org/" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.girinst.org/" rel="nofollow">Repbase</a>- A database of transposable element sequences </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.bioinf.manchester.ac.uk/bergman/te-tools.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.bioinf.manchester.ac.uk/bergman/te-tools.html" rel="nofollow">Resources for Transposable Element Bioinformatics</a> </li> <li><a class="external text" title="http://www.dnai.org/c/index.html" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dnai.org/c/index.html" rel="nofollow">DNA Interactive</a> </li>
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