In this Review, Senft and Macfarlan discuss the diverse ways by which transposable elements (TEs) contribute to mammalian development and evolution, including direct contributions through TE-derived regulatory elements, RNAs and proteins, as well as indirect effects through the evolution of a TE repression system, the Krüppel-associated box zinc finger proteins (KRAB-ZFPs).
- Anna D. Senft
- Todd S. Macfarlan