Newly-Discovered ‘Borg’ DNA Is Unlike Anything Scientists Have Ever Seen
Scientists have discovered DNA sequences in wetland soil that are unlike anything ever found and which could have “important and unanticipated climate implications,” according to a new preprint study co-authored by a Nobel Prize Laureate, among other genomics researchers. The authors of the new paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, named these genetic elements “Borgs” after the recurring villains in Star Trek, because they assimilate genes from other organisms. Borgs are extrachromosomal elements, meaning that these DNA sequences are found outside the chromosomes that lie within the nucleus of most cells and that contain the majority of an organism’s genetic material. Examples of extrachromosomal elements include plasmids, which can replicate outside of a host’s chromosomes, and some viruses.
Scientists have discovered DNA sequences in wetland soil that are unlike anything ever found and which could have “important and unanticipated climate implications,” according to a new preprint study co-authored by a Nobel Prize Laureate, among other genomics researchers. The authors of the new paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, named these genetic elements “Borgs” after the recurring villains in Star Trek, because they assimilate genes from other organisms. Borgs are extrachromosomal elements, meaning that these DNA sequences are found outside the chromosomes that lie within the nucleus of most cells and that contain the majority of an organism’s genetic material. Examples of extrachromosomal elements include plasmids, which can replicate outside of a host’s chromosomes, and some viruses.
