Many human L1 elements are capable of retrotransposition
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 2, 2026

Analysis of LINE-1 Retrotransposition at the Single Nucleus Level
Published on: April 23, 2016
D M Sassaman1, B A Dombroski, J V Moran
1Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
Abstract:
Using a selective screening strategy to enrich for active L1 elements, we isolated 13 full-length elements from a human genomic library. We tested these and two previously-isolated L1s (L1.3 and L1.4) for reverse transcriptase (RT) activity and the ability to retrotranspose in HeLa cells. Of the 13 newly-isolated L1s, eight had RT activity and three were able to retrotranspose. L1.3 and L1.4 possessed RT activity and retrotransposed at remarkably high frequencies. These studies bring the number of characterized active human L1 elements to seven. Based on these and other data, we estimate that 30-60 active L1 elements reside in the average diploid genome.
Related Concept Videos
LTR Retrotransposons
The internal coding region of LTR retrotransposons and their mechanism of transposition closely resembles a...
Non-LTR Retrotransposons
Retroviruses
Overview of Transposition and Recombination
DNA-only Transposons
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
Transposons

