Retrotransposons can "hop" from a somatic cell into a germline cell, thus passing down to future generations. Before, it was thought that retrotransposons (which are basically stretches of DNA that generate copies of themselves through RNA, which gets converted back into DNA and pasted into the genome) would solely hop around within a single cell's genome. But it turns out that in flies, some retrotransposons encode a tiny protein called sORF2 that helps them get into another cell. The cells surrounding the egg encode these retrotransposons that get transcribed into RNA. Part of that RNA encodes sORF2, which the cell then makes. This protein forms some kind of interaction with the RNA, forming an extension or "protrusion" that pushes it into a neighboring cell, like the egg itself. The original retrotransposon DNA stays behind. For this paper, they watched these particles move into the egg, which is crazy. And when they disabled sORF2, the protrusions stopped forming and the transfer stopped. These retrotransposons are basically a miniature form of virus. Biology continues to get weirder.

🌱🚨 Very proud and excited to share our PREPRINT, unveiling an advance for plant science, biotech, & synthetic biology in the first (of many) Khalil <> Gehring collaborations! biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…