Transposable element (TE) initially said to be ‘junk DNA’ were now found to have broad evolution impact. How can a ‘junk DNA’ become something that will lead to evolution? This question can be answer with the fact that TE are sequence of DNA that can move around to different position of the genome. This action lead to the splicing of exon, as a result, new functional protein will form. This can be pass down to the next generation and over time leading to evolution.
So how long dose it takes for TE to incorporate into protein? It was previously though it needs some time TE could incorporate into protein. However, a recent finding (M. Wu et al. 2007) show that young TE also codes for functional protein. Therefore, this shows that TE can possibly influence evolution sooner in their life than was thought.
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