Applying evolutionary computation to understanding the insertion behavior of LINE-1 retrotransposons in human DNA

Mobile genetic elements, portions of DNA which are able to copy themselves elsewhere into the genome, have played a substantial role during evolution. One of the most prominent such elements is the LINE-1 retrotransposon, a section of DNA around 6,000 nucleotide bases in length, which is thought to account for about 15% of the current state of the human genome. The mechanism of LINE-1 insertion is rather poorly understood. However, achieving a good understanding of this process is fundamental to understanding natural evolution at the molecular level. We describe a first approach to use evolutionary computation to explore models for the LINE-1 insertion process. A range of findings from standard genome studies are able to suggest the basic parameters and structure of an insertion model. We use an evolutionary algorithm to explore a space of such models.