{"id":244522,"date":"2026-09-26T13:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/escape-of-the-bc200-gene-to-a-human-poxvirus-reveals-its-persistent-transposition-in-primates"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:11:19","slug":"escape-of-the-bc200-gene-to-a-human-poxvirus-reveals-its-persistent-transposition-in-primates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/escape-of-the-bc200-gene-to-a-human-poxvirus-reveals-its-persistent-transposition-in-primates","title":{"rendered":"Escape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Scientists found a human genetic element in a poxvirus and discovered it was both an important gene for brain function and a jumping gene capable of moving and inserting itself in genomes.<\/p>\n

A study published Sept. 24 in Science<\/i> reports that the gene, called BC200, combines a mix of characteristics that have never been seen before.<\/p>\n

For millions of years, some stretches of DNA known as transposable elements\u2014often described as \u201cjumping genes\u201d\u2014have been able to copy themselves and insert into new locations in a genome. Although nearly half of the human genome bears traces of these elements, most are no longer capable of moving.<\/p>\n

A new study highlights an unusual exception: BC200, a small noncoding RNA gene that was incorporated into the genomes of anthropoid primates roughly 40 million years ago and later acquired a role in regulating protein production in neurons. Scientists had assumed that, after being \u201cdomesticated\u201d by the genome, BC200 had essentially settled into its new biological role.<\/p>\n

Instead, the researchers found evidence that BC200 never completely lost its ability to move.<\/p>\n

By analyzing primate genomes, they found that BC200 had repeatedly generated new copies over evolutionary time, producing hundreds of lineage-specific insertions. They also identified BC200 insertion variants that exist in some humans but not others\u2014including very recent, individual-specific insertions\u2014suggesting that the element may still be capable of moving today.<\/p>\n

The most striking discovery came from molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV), a human-specific poxvirus. The researchers found two copies of the human BC200 sequence inside the viral genome. Their analysis suggests that these copies were acquired through the activity of LINE-1, another mobile genetic element, probably during relatively recent human evolution, potentially within the last 160,000 years.<\/p>\n

Continue reading \u201cEscape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates\u201d | ><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scientists found a human genetic element in a poxvirus and discovered it was both an important gene for brain function and a jumping gene capable of moving and inserting itself in genomes. A study published Sept. 24 in Science reports that the gene, called BC200, combines a mix of characteristics that have never been seen [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,385,412,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-evolution","category-genetics","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/709"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}