Transposable elements drive genome evolution: Unpacking the ecological and adaptive mechanisms behind dynamic DNA expansion in biodiversity hotspots
Original framing: “Predicting jumping genes' roles in changing genome size” — Phys.org
Geneticists in the Global South, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia, have long observed TE-driven variability in crops like *millet*, *yams*, and *taro*—yet their findings are rarely cited in Western genetic literature. These researchers often work with limited resources but contribute critical insights into how TEs interact with local climates and farming practices. The exclusion of their voices perpetuates a colonial narrative where genetic knowledge is produced in the Global North while Southern contexts provide the raw data. Additionally, Indigenous geneticists, such as those in the Amazon or Pacific Islands, could offer unique perspectives on TE activity in wild relatives of domesticated plants, which are often neglected in mainstream genetic studies.
Transposable elements are not mere genetic curiosities but systemic actors in the co-evolution of species and ecosystems, their activity shaped by ecological pressures and cultural practices alike.
The framing of TEs as 'jumping genes' obscures their role as adaptive mechanisms—selected for in Indigenous agricultural traditions like Andean *quinoa* cultivation or African *sorghum* farming, where TE-driven variability conferred resilience to drought and pests. Historically, their study was dismissed as fringe science until environmental stresses forced recognition of their significance, a pattern that repeats today as climate change accelerates TE proliferation in crops and wild species. Marginalised voices, from Global South geneticists to Indigenous land stewards, have long observed TE activity as a dynamic response to instability, yet their insights are sidelined in favour of Western genetic models. Future pathways must integrate these perspectives into decentralised breeding networks, ethical governance frameworks, and synthetic biology approaches that treat TEs as tools for proactive ecological engineering rather than passive genetic phenomena. The synthesis of these dimensions reveals TEs as a bridge between genetic science and ecological resilience—a resource that demands collaborative stewardship to harness their potential for a climate-adaptive future.