Regulatory potential of repeat elements in the evolution of tissue-specific transcription

The human genome, like all mammalian genomes, is in large part composed of decayed – but once active – repeat elements, many of which carry tissue-specific regulatory information.

We hypothesise that repurposing of repeat elements has been critical for creating tissue-specific transcriptional regulation. Our research plan involves an integrated experimental and computational strategy to systematically explore how these repeat elements have shaped the regulatory genome across recent radiations in placental mammals.