▁Although ▁the ▁insert ion ▁of ▁NUM T s ▁was ▁previously ▁considered ▁function less ▁pseud ogen es , ▁recent ▁human ▁NUM T s ▁are ▁shown ▁to ▁be ▁a ▁potentially ▁mut agen ic ▁process ▁that ▁could ▁damage ▁the ▁functional ▁integrity ▁of ▁the ▁human ▁gen ome . ▁The ▁accum ulation ▁of ▁mut ation ▁in ▁NUM T , ▁post - insert ional ▁alter ation , ▁mut agen ic ▁mechanism ▁of ▁NUM T ▁insert ion , ▁M ME J ▁and ▁N HE J , ▁D SB , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁place ▁in ▁which ▁insert ion ▁hot ▁spot ▁is ▁located ▁can ▁cause ▁mut ation ▁and ▁dram atic ▁alter ations ▁of ▁the ▁gen ome ▁structure ▁at ▁the ▁integration ▁site , ▁inter f ere ▁with ▁the ▁function ▁of ▁the ▁gen ome , ▁and ▁ex ert ▁substantial ▁effects ▁on ▁the ▁expression ▁of ▁gen etic ▁information . ▁Moreover , ▁Integr ation ▁of ▁m t D NA ▁sequences ▁substantial ly ▁affect s ▁the ▁spatial ▁organization ▁of ▁n D NA ▁and ▁may ▁play ▁an ▁important ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁evolution ▁of ▁e uk ary otic ▁genom es . ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁the ▁negative ▁effect ▁of ▁m t D NA , ▁those ▁conser ved ▁old ▁NUM T s ▁in ▁the ▁gen ome ▁are ▁likely ▁to ▁represent ▁evolution ary ▁success es ▁and ▁they ▁should ▁be ▁considered ▁as ▁a ▁potential ▁evolution ary ▁mechanism ▁for ▁the ▁enh ancement ▁of ▁genom ic ▁coding ▁regions . ▁Moreover , ▁Ch atre ▁and ▁Ric ch etti ▁with ▁the ▁util ization ▁of ▁Two - dimensional ▁gel ▁elect roph ores is , ▁pl as mid