Civil war inside our cells: Scientists show how our bodies fight off 'jumping genes'

Friday, April 25, 2014 - 11:00 in Biology & Nature

There’s a civil war going on inside every one of the 37 trillion cells in your body. Now, scientists have uncovered how your cells keep this war from causing too much collateral damage. On one side of the battle: your “regular” DNA, which provides the day-to-day instructions for life. On the other side: tiny bits of rogue DNA that hide like spies between genes in your own DNA. From time to time, these rogue bits of DNA spin off a copy of themselves and “jump” to another DNA location – often causing harmful mutations when they land.

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