Interference with cell cycle progression by parasitic genetic elements: sleeping beauty joins the club

Transposable elements are discrete segments of DNA that have the distinctive ability to move and replicate within genomes. Similar to viruses, transposons are best viewed as molecular parasites that propagate themselves using resources of the host cell. Many viruses have developed strategies to modulate the host cell cycle machinery and cellular self-destruct mechanisms to maximize the chance for successful infection and the production of virus progeny. Recent evidence shows that transposable elements have also evolved mechanisms to modulate cell cycle progression for their own benefit. Thus, interference with the cell cycle seems to be a shared strategy of parasitic selfish genetic elements.