- Comment Comments - Save Article Read Later Read Later ## How Virus-like ‘Jumping Genes’ Became Our Partners in Evolution September 21, 2026 A DNA transposon is a kind of mobile genetic element that can pop out of one chromosome and paste itself into a new location on another. Samuel Velasco/Quanta Magazine ## Introduction Contributing Writer September 21, 2026 You might imagine that the DNA in your cells has a simple history. Even though it’s been recombined in every generation through sex and gained the occasional mutation, on the whole the genome has been stable and has been passed down…