Regulatory potential of repeat elements in the evolution of tissue-specific transcription

More than half of the human genome is made of ancient, broken-up genetic parasites called repeat elements, and this project will test whether these discarded sequences are actually essential for turning genes on and off in the right tissues. Most of the genome does not code for proteins, and for decades these repeat elements were dismissed as junk. But they carry regulatory DNA sequences that vary between species. The researchers suspect that mammals have repeatedly hijacked these elements to build new tissue-specific gene control networks—for example, making a gene active only in the liver or only in the brain. The project combines computational analysis with lab experiments in placental mammals to map which repeats control which genes, and how that control evolved. This is fundamental science. It will not produce a drug or a diagnostic. But understanding how the genome actually organises its regulatory instructions could eventually explain why certain genetic diseases affect only specific tissues, or why some regulatory DNA is conserved across species while other parts are not. Past work on repeat elements has already revealed unexpected roles in immune system evolution and placental development.