Investigating host tolerance to genes that jump

(University of Houston) Believe it or not, your genes are 50% parasite, and opportunistic at that. They tend to jump onto sperm and egg cells to replicate in the next generation, a process that can devastate an egg or sperm cell. A University of Houston evolutionary geneticist, armed with a new $1.8 Million grant, is now trying to determine how reproductive cells can persist despite this damage from parasites.
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news